


Broken Arrow

by starkintern



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alcohol Withdrawal, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Captain America Friendly, Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Happy Ending, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Humor, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Misunderstandings, Not Canon Compliant, Recovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Build, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark-centric, Tony still has his arc reactor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-09-29 14:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17205536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkintern/pseuds/starkintern
Summary: Resident genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, also known as Tony Stark, is on a downward spiral. His nightly routine almost always includes drinking his feelings away and beating himself up for his mistakes. However, that is soon interrupted when Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers become fugitives and Tony is dragged into their mess. Now faced with the responsibility of fixing something non-mechanical, Tony realizes that although recovery is often believed to be a linear process, it doesn't have to be.[ Based on the events in Captain America: Civil War yet not at all canon-compliant. ]





	1. Everything is Not What it Seems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets a surprise visit from a wizard with an attitude problem that rivals his.

_“My greatest creation…is you.”_

Tony, once again, resists the urge to groan and throw his bottle at the holographic screen in front of him. He is one hundred percent certain that this message was made for Steve Rogers, everyone’s favorite superhero, and Howard simply decided to throw in Tony’s name there for the hell of it. Howard was always proud of Steve the most, which helped fuel Tony’s childhood adoration for the man. If Howard, his own father, loved him so much, then Captain America had to be great! It is only now that Tony finds himself despising the message, as well as the person who stands in front of the camera and has the audacity to imply that he remembers that Tony exists and will grow up to make him proud. 

This has been his nightly routine for a few weeks already: drink, think about his father, and get hung up over his own mistakes and pointless comparisons. Of course, there are some nights when it gets easier, when Tony’s body decides that it will forcefully put him to sleep whether he likes it or not. Nightmares, personifications of his other demons, barely ever plague him during those nights, and Tony compares the entire experience to a robot being temporarily shut down. Pepper unfortunately never saw the humor in that and Rhodey always punctuated his responses with worried, searching glances. 

_As if I know why they worry, I’m perfectly fine,_ he mentally lies to himself as he takes another sip, closing his eyes and kicking back in his chair. The video continues to play over again yet at a low volume, as to not disrupt Pepper and/or Rhodey, or perhaps to prevent his forming headache from getting any worse. 

His headache becomes the least of his worries. Tony suddenly falls from his chair and nearly chokes as a sharp noise suddenly breaks the low, constant hum of the video. In his peripheral vision, a bright orange light surrounds the room, overpowering the soft blue that the holograph created, and Tony scrambles to his feet, furiously patting down the pockets of his sweatpants for anything that could help call his armor to him quicker. He takes a risk and glances up, just in time to see a circle portal opening up and a figure beginning to step into the kitchen. 

_Fuck it! This uninvited guest isn’t waiting,_ Tony thinks, spotting his imperfect version of the gauntlet for his suit resting on the coffee table and extending his arm out, _but he better wait for me to get this defective thing on my arm since he’s bringing this wizard stuff to the table._

His thoughts are interrupted by a low, unusually calm voice saying, “Stark, before you shoot a hole through my chest, keep in mind that you need me.” 

“If it’s about my Hogwarts letter, I’ll have you know that you’re a few years late.” Tony snaps as he stumbles forward, his gauntlet already forming on his arm and casting a bright blue light at the man. 

Now that Tony’s eyes are more adjusted, he can tell that the man is around his age and bearded as well. His hair has flecks of gray or white, yet his sharp icy eyes give him an aura of youth that Tony is almost taken aback by. His mouth is pressed in a thin line, almost as if he is in the middle of contemplating his options. He is considerably taller than Tony and he notes that the mystery man has a necklace with a small stone inside of it, a stone similar to the one Vision has in the middle of his forehead. 

“You can put that down, I’m no threat to you.” The man speaks, lifting up his hands in a “surrender” fashion. The action brings little to no reassurance to Tony, since he just witnessed him create a portal using his hands. 

“Yeah, okay, Dumbledore,” Tony snorts, keeping his arm extended in front of him. 

A faint pause. “I don’t know who that is.” 

“Gandalf?” Tony tries, arching an eyebrow at the man’s unamused face before trying again, “Wizard of Oz? Alex Russo? C’mon, I’m running out of wizards here.” 

The man lets out an exasperated sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers, and through the bright light of his gauntlet Tony is able to make out long scars on each of them. “Has anyone told you that you’re insufferable?” 

“Yes, they normally think about that before breaking into my home,” Tony’s voice rises significantly by the end of the sentence and his mind is racing. How is he supposed to go up against a wizard who just bypassed his security systems and popped into his home? Maybe if he can manage to bring the fight to his workshop where he can get armored up… 

Before Tony is able to say anything else, the man waves his hand in a circular motion around Tony and before he knows it, he’s falling. The ground comes up quicker than Tony can even register the fact that he’s in the air and he falls straight onto his chest, white flames of pain burning his veins as his Arc Reactor protests against the rough action. Something tells me that this thing can’t take direct damage. 

“Well, we’re not in your home anymore. We’re in my home.” The man points out as he casually walks past Tony, not waiting to see if he’s following. 

Tony scrambles to his feet, the sharp pain thankfully subsiding to a dull ache. The fall wasn’t enough to damage it to the point of it being lethal. “You know, this technically counts as kidnapping. I bet this looks really terrible for you, Merlin.” His eyes naturally wander and he takes note of the immense amount of books there are, stacked neatly on endless rows of shelves. He doesn’t get the chance to read all of the titles but something tells him that they are not books about biology, physics, or orphan boys destined to defeat evil wizards. “Hey Wizard, do you live in a forbidden library or something –“ 

Suddenly, the scene around him shifts and Tony has to grab hold of the thing closest to him in order to steady himself. He’s surprised when the object slips from under his grasp and waves at him before settling on the wizard-man’s – since when had he managed to get in front of him? - shoulders. “You have a magic carpet?” Tony asks lamely, watching as the red fabric waves at him once again from its perch on the wizard. 

“Cloak,” The man corrects, “and no, I do not live in a forbidden library. Look around you, Stark.” 

Tony does, and he is greeted by different cased artifacts rather than books. However, the interior of the area remains the same, which means that this room and the room with the abnormal number of books are both in the same building. “ _Night at the Museum?_ Are all these things going to come to life and kick my ass into next week? ‘Cause let me tell you, this is an impressive collection and I don’t think I’d mind it that much if they did. It’s almost as impressive as my collection of marks and trust me, that is a compliment.” 

When Tony turns back around to face the man, the scene has already shifted again and the man was beside a large table, surrounded by chairs. Tony mops a hand over his face, “You really have to stop doing that. I don’t know if you’ve realized but I drank quite a bit and the last thing you want is for me to throw up on your fancy carpet and matching tablecloth. Which is a little weird, actually, normally people wouldn’t have that much matching in their homes –“ 

“I’m not here to argue with you. I’m here to warn you,” The man says as he sits down, lazily waving his hand and making cups of tea appear in front of him as he continues, “My name is Stephen Strange, or Dr. Strange. Pick your favorite.” 

“You’re kidding, right?” Tony snorts as he takes a seat, cautiously sniffing at the cup of tea set in front of him and wrinkling his nose in disgust. When he looks back up again, he is once again met with Strange’s unamused face and shrugs his shoulders. “Look, you have to admit that I have the right to be skeptical about this, especially since you’re doing some freaky wizard stuff with my cup of tea right now.” 

Dr. Strange seemed to have ignored everything that Tony had said, and Tony finds himself to only be mildly annoyed. “Do you know the name ‘Bucky Barnes’?” 

_Bucky?_ That catches Tony’s attention. He vaguely remembers Steve ranting to him about Bucky, his best friend who was supposedly dead only to turn up alive, yet with no memory of him or their past together. Tony was always subjected to listening about him at one point but truth be told, Tony had a tendency to tune out some parts. As if he, Tony Stark, ex-Captain America enthusiast, does not know who Bucky Barnes is. He narrows his eyes, leaning forward in his seat until his arms are resting on the table. “What about him?” 

Dr. Strange leans forward as well, his icy blue eyes studying Tony’s face for a minute before he continues, “He has the potential to…be a hazard. Not only to you, Stark, but to people around him.” 

Tony blinks a few times. A hazard? Since when? “Really? I haven’t heard Steve talk about him in a while. He seems like he’s just laying low, recovering from all that memory bullshit. How do you even know? How am I supposed to know that you’re not just pulling a fast-one on me?” 

“Trust me, I don’t want to get into your or your motley crew’s business,” Dr. Strange assures, “I know how dysfunctional and fragile you all are. I’m just warning you, so you can put a stop to this before it gets any worse.” 

“Put a stop to what? I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be stopping!” Tony exclaims, standing up from his seat and folding his arms across his chest, the faint light of the Arc Reactor under his dark T-shirt giving them a slight blue glow. “Listen, wizard, unless you provide me with hard evidence that he’s going to cause shit to hit the fan, then I’ll consider it. But you really shouldn’t be telling me this, Steve knows him better than anyone. I haven’t even met the guy.” 

Tony notices how Dr. Strange’s jaw twitched as the genius spoke, as if he were holding something back, and the man eventually stands up as well, towering over Tony. “Keep an eye out, that’s all I’m asking of you. I’m not asking you to go after him or try to find him by dawn. Just know that something is going to happen, and you will be involved whether you know him or not.” 

There is a brief moment of silence between them before Tony asks, “Alright, are we done here? I have important business to get to and since you can’t offer me any proof, I think we’re done here. Am I right? I think I’m right.” 

“Important business? You mean like drinking and brooding over your father?” 

“No, important business like drinking, brooding over my father, _and_ talking to Friday. Big difference.” 

Tony shares a look with Stephen before the man eventually takes a deep breath and nods, much to Tony’s relief. “Yes, we’re done here, but feel free to humor me, Stark. Don’t automatically push this warning out of your head because as much as you don’t want to believe it, I am here to help you.” 

Before Tony can retort, a portal opens underneath him and he finds himself briefly falling again, this time falling flat on his back. He looks up and sees Stephen nonchalantly wave goodbye at him before the portal closes, leaving faint orange sparks in its wake, and Tony is surrounded by darkness again. He simply lies there for a few moments, taking in his current situation, before he props himself up on his elbows as he growls, “Jackass.” Would it have really killed him to warn him before opening up random portals? At least Tony can be thankful that he wasn’t attacked or sent to who-knew-where. 

“Are you alright? I can do a scan of your vitals to make sure. A strange mystical force was detected here.” Tony hears Friday ask with as much concern as an A.I. could muster. 

“I’ve never felt better. Friday, pull up everything you have on Bucky Barnes.” He orders, picking the fallen bottle up from the floor before more alcohol could spill out. He takes a swing of it as he sits down, listening as Friday drones on about Bucky’s history in the war with Steve. He waves his hand, even though Friday can’t see it, “No, I already know all that stuff. What, you think I never visited those dumb exhibits about him? I need something more recent. Is there any news about him? Anything that Steve might’ve mentioned in here?” 

If a voice A.I. could shake their head, Tony bets that Friday would be doing it right now. “No, I do not have any other data about him.” 

Tony lets out a small sigh, running a hand through his hair as he kicks back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. None of this made any sense. Tony finds himself beginning to judge the words of the wizard, and not in a good way. “Fri, what time is it?” 

“1:46 A.M.” 

_It’s not even that late. I could try to figure this out,_ he thinks, _just in case._ However, doubt is what stops him. Doubt that the wizard has any clue of what he’s talking about and also the fact that Tony has been up for a more few hours, therefore making him dangerously close to his delirious stage, also known as the stage where he is more accident-prone and much less agreeable. He likes to claim that it is his work that’s keeping him up, even though Pepper is now the CEO of Stark Industries and Tony works in the background most of the time or advises her from time to time. In actuality, what’s keeping Tony up is much less professional but he would rather die than admit that. 

Tossing the now empty bottle into a nearby bin, wincing as it almost misses, Tony stands up and stretches his arms above his head, his black t-shirt moving up along with his movements. He finds himself still mentally deciding if he should even bother trusting Dumbledore’s sarcastic replacement. Hell, that man might as well be a hermit trying to cause trouble in Tony’s life, it definitely wouldn’t be the first time. 

He pulls his gauntlet off of his hand, setting it back down on the table. He’s thankful that he wasn’t forced to use it, since there is a solid 75% chance that it would have backfired in one way or another. During the testing stages, Tony nearly blasted a hole in his workshop and Pepper was not happy about it. Overall, Tony has yet to work out the kinks of that piece of armory, and he asks Friday to make a reminder for him to get to it sooner or later. 

Then, rather than heading towards the workshop to attempt to take his mind off of this newfound situation, Tony makes his way over to the bedroom, where Pepper remains fast asleep, making no sounds other than her soft breathing. She thankfully didn’t wake up when Tony was teleported to the wizard’s house; less explaining for Tony to do. He carefully sits down on the edge of the bed, rubbing his temple with his hand. _What the hell am I supposed to do about this? I don’t even know if I can trust him._

“Friday, alert me of anything involving Bucky Barnes. Or Steve Rogers, at that. Those two are two peas in a pod or however the saying goes.” Tony quietly tells her, earning an equally quiet confirmation of his orders. He is not putting all of his money on Stephen’s warnings to him, but he also doesn’t plan on taking any risks. Hopefully if anything does happen, Tony wouldn’t be too sleep-deprived to suit up and go handle it. 

Weariness finally seeps into his bones and he gently lies down on top of the covers, his back turned to Pepper, a significant and cold space left in between them. The quiet sound of Pepper’s breathing helps calm his nerves a bit, although Tony doubts that he would be able to fall asleep with all this new information suddenly on his mind. However, when he does close his eyes, the pounding in his head gets significantly easier to bear and Tony lets out a small sigh. Relief of any kind is a blessing at this point. 

As the night continues to drag on, Tony focuses as best he could on Pepper’s breathing pattern; when they first started sharing a bed, he used to listen to her heartbeat in order to drown out the sound of his own heartbeat, which has a strange tendency to beat faster and faster the more Tony focuses on it. He assumes that it correlates with his infamous anxiety problem. Now that the two of them are practically attached to the opposite sides of the bed they share, however, Tony finds it a little more difficult to fall asleep as quickly as he used to, but he manages. He always does. 

He keeps his eyes shut and attempts to get rid of all of the thoughts that plague his mind. Nothing will happen, Stephen is messing with him, and Bucky will continue doing whatever it is that he’s doing to stay out of trouble. 

That is the mantra that Tony succumbs to sleep with and naturally, everything happens when Tony finally manages to get some rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first chapter is a little slow, but everything picks up in the second chapter! this is gonna be a long one so if you plan on sticking around 'till the end, welcome! like always, comments & kudos are 100% appreciated !!  
> if you ever wanna talk to me about what i'm writing or anything else, here's my tumblr!: [starkintrn.tumblr.com](https://starkintrn.tumblr.com)


	2. Caught in the Crossfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve continue their tradition of constantly disagreeing with each other, and everything goes to shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres a little more action in this chapter! not a whole lot, but don't worry, later chapters are just as fun.

Something is poking him in his ribs. 

Tony weakly bats his “assailant” away with his hand, his mind remaining aware of his surroundings for only a few mere seconds before quickly slipping back into sleep. However, the incessant poking continues and Tony cracks his eyes open, blinking rapidly at the sunlight streaming through the windows. He throws his arm over his eyes, groaning as the poking has now increased to a hand placed on his shoulder and shaking. “Whaaaaaaaaaaat?” he drawls out, contemplating if it’s worth trying to go back to sleep or not. 

“Oh, thank goodness. I was about to get Rhodes in here to pour a bucket of cold water over you,” Pepper breathes out a sigh of relief, although Tony can hear a hint of disappointment in it, “Something happened, and you might wanna see this.” 

“If something exploded in the kitchen again, I think it’s a problem for any time but the ass crack of dawn.” 

“First of all, no, nothing exploded _in the kitchen._ Second of all, it’s eight in the morning.” Pepper starts shaking Tony’s shoulder again and Tony turns to lie on his back, lazily peeking at her from underneath his arm. Her bright hair is still messy from sleep, but she has an alarmed expression, which reflects in her voice as she elaborates, “Someone blew up an office building in New York City. The news says something about a man named ‘Bucky Barnes’-“ 

The name affects him like a splash of cold water in his face. Tony immediately sits up, his eyes darting accusingly towards the ceiling. “Friday, I told you to alert me if anything like this happens. When did this happen? Is Bucky still there? Is he detained or do I need to go drag his ass back?” 

“It just happened a few minutes ago and you slept through all of her warnings. They’re what woke me up.” Pepper explains before Friday has the chance to defend herself. 

“Thank you, Miss Potts,” Friday responds gratefully, “It happened a few minutes ago, around 8:14 A.M. to be exact. Bucky is assumed to not be there, but the bomb squad and local law enforcement have already arrived. His whereabouts are uncertain, as it seems like he has fled before anyone was able to interact with him. There is security footage of the event.” 

Tony’s heart drops down all the way to his stomach. He can practically hear Stephen chortling “I told you so”, adorned with a shit-eating grin. “Pull up the footage,” he swallows hard as he reaches over to the nightstand and grabs his tablet. Pepper sits closer to him, their heads almost leaning on each other, as Friday starts playing the footage. 

The footage is slightly blurry but Tony can make out a man, wearing casual clothes, sitting on one of the couches on the first floor of the building. Pepper is silent, but he knows that she is thinking the same thing he is. A few more people enter the building, carrying briefcases and cups of coffee, blinking sleepiness out of their eyes, before the man suddenly stands up and makes his way towards the exit. No one takes it as something out of the ordinary as he leaves the building and is out of sight from the security camera. People pile into elevators, covering yawns with their hands, sometimes conversing with others around them, and suddenly the walls of the building give in, smoke billowing into the small room. Pepper covers her mouth with her hand and Tony feels desperation claw at his chest. Even though there’s no audio, Tony swears that he could hear the surprised and distressed screams of the office workers who thought that they were just heading in for a regular day of work. His heart pounds against his chest and he grits his teeth. He can’t sit and watch it anymore. He drops his tablet on the bed and immediately stumbles up, untangling the covers from his legs. 

“You’re going over there?” Pepper states the obvious before quickly adding, “Just be careful. If you need help, _call for help._ I’m going to schedule a meeti-“ 

Tony is out of the bedroom and in his workshop before he hears Pepper finish speaking. He hops over spare pieces of equipment and unfinished mechanical pieces, which are all accidents just waiting to happen, and stands in the middle of the room, surrounded by all of his marks. His most recent one is not completely finished and has not been through a rigorous testing period yet, but it does have the most upgrades and Tony decides that this can count as a field test. 

As he flies away and heads towards the location of the explosion, which isn’t that difficult to find considering the fact that smoke continues to rise in the distance, Friday notes that he suited up in record time. As he heads closer to the scene, he spots a lot of rubble surrounding a collapsed building, less than half of it still in one piece. Panic clutches his throat tightly, making it difficult to breathe properly, and Tony takes in the sight of shattered glass, splatters of dried blood, and papers scattered all over the place, half of them singed to mere ashes. First responders help injured people stand up or carry them away in stretchers, while those who managed to miss the explosion keep their distance and call their loved ones on their phones. 

Tony curses under his breath, spotting the familiar red-and-blue design of Steve’s suit. _How long as he been here?_ He settles down beside it, lifting his faceplate up and giving a brief nod of greeting to Steve, who returns the gesture with a grave look. He notices that there is ash on Steve’s face, which means that he already helped some people out of the remaining mess. “Your friend here made quite the mess. Anyone else injured or trapped? How many are dead?” 

“Yes, I’ve been told that the injury count is around 49 right now, I think they’ve gotten mostly everyone out of the rubble by now. There’s…at least 20 confirmed deaths. This isn’t right. Bucky would never do this,” Steve’s voice is hollow, but certain, “he’s been living away from stress. He couldn’t have done something like this.” 

Tony opens his mouth to say something, decides against it, and hesitates. Although he and Steve were barely ever on good terms even when they teamed up, it is clear to him that Steve is torn apart by this. For once, Tony chooses his words carefully, “We have video evidence of him doing this, Cap. We have to make sure that he doesn’t hurt any other innocent people. The safest way to do that is to turn him in and then find out what’s going on from there.” 

“No.” 

Tony is taken aback. He actually thought that Steve would agree with him yet naturally, the two of them find it difficult to find something that they do agree on. “No?” 

Steve furiously shakes his head, “No. I have to go after him and find out what’s going on for myself. He would never open up to just anyone.” His gaze is pleading, and Tony realizes that he fully expects Tony to attempt to stop him. 

“We can’t take that chance,” Tony stresses, trying to keep his voice leveled, “more people might get hurt. You know that, I know that, and the entire country knows that. I won’t be the only one nipping at your heels.” He gestures towards the police cars gathered around the rubble, their blue-and-red lights flashing. If Steve plans on running after Bucky, then he’s going to have one hell of a time with law enforcement. 

Steve lets out a small, defeated sigh, his foot tapping rapidly against the ground. “I know. I know. But he’s my friend, Tony. If your best friend did something like this, wouldn’t you like to get to them before anyone else does? To let them explain everything to you?” 

_He’s got a point,_ he thinks. Rhodey and Tony always had each other’s backs, ever since they roomed together in college and got themselves into a multitude of different shenanigans. “Sure. But I’ve been bailing Rhodey out of things like pulling pranks on classmates and let me tell you, this is _nothing_ like that. This is serious, Steve. People died, people are hurt, and it has a very likely chance of happening again. We cannot risk that happening again. That’s not who we are.” 

It finally seems to sink in that Tony refuses to take “no” for an answer in this situation. Tony can tell that Steve is in the middle of contemplating his options, his clouded blue eyes staring ahead at the crime scene. Tony found himself hoping that Steve would make it easier for everyone and agree, even with reluctance. “Maybe it’s not who you are, but I’m not abandoning a friend. He’s not the cause of this, I know it, and the last thing we need is another innocent person suffering. I’m sorry, Tony.” 

_Of course everything has to be this difficult,_ Tony bitterly thinks. “Cap, you know I can’t let you go after him like that. There is a very likely chance that I’ll find him first.” _Or hopefully, at least._

“You’re right,” Steve admits, much to Tony’s surprise, “and I can’t risk that happening.” 

“Boss, there’s a projectile coming straight towards you.” Friday warns, unfortunately a little too late. It hits him straight in the chest and the force is enough to sweep him off his feet despite being in the armor. Tony lets out a long string of curses as he hears rapid footsteps running away from him rather than towards him. 

“I’m starting to wonder which one of us has delayed reactions, Fri.” Tony gasps as he sorely gets back up. “Oh, hold on, are you serious?” Tony exclaims, picking up the shield that apparently Steve threw at him, which felt immensely heavy in his hands, “I am in _no_ mood for a game of Frisbee.” Steve is almost out of sight at this point, with various police officers staring after him, looking incredibly confused, and Tony hisses, “Friday, keep track of Capsicle as he enjoys his head start. I need to go return his shield.” 

“Don’t sweat it, Tin Can, I can do that for you.” A new voice chirps, and the shield is snatched out of Tony’s hands before he is able to register the fact that someone entirely new entered the scene. However, the metal wings are a dead giveaway. Sam Wilson, The Falcon, decided to join in on the fun, it seems. 

“Unfair. No one told me that I could bring _my_ friends,” Tony mutters as he shoots up into the air, tailing after Sam. He notices Sam suddenly drop the shield, which means that Steve is close-by, but Tony focuses on Sam first. He doubts that he’ll be able to get anything done with him constantly hovering like that. He aims his repulsor at one of the billboard’s supporting structures a few feet in front of them and fires, letting out a satisfied sound as it hits directly where he wants it to. The billboard doesn’t fall directly in front of Sam yet Tony didn’t plan for it to, since it ends up clipping one of the man’s wings. As Tony passes by, he casts the now fallen billboard a glance and murmurs, more to himself rather than anyone else, “I’ll pay for that. Eventually.” 

Finally, he comes across Steve again, although this time he’s with someone else. Tony doesn’t need to guess who it is, he already has a hunch. 

“Oh, look who it is. If it isn’t Bonnie and Clyde themselves. Gotta say, Cap, you found him pretty quickly. What, no get-a-way car?” Tony snorts as he lowers himself down yet remains hovering in the air just in case. Bucky’s eyes are trained on Steve, and Steve is staring directly at Tony. Bucky isn’t wearing the same outfit he had in the video, but Tony assumes that it’s because he had ample time to change. “That was a nice early morning work-out, I’m also now indebted to Colgate because I ruined their billboard, but I think it’s time we call it quits. Steve, you and I both know that running away will cause more harm than good.” 

Steve’s jaw twitches and Tony can tell that he’s frustrated. “Listen, Tony, they won’t get any answers by imprisoning him. You of all people should know that.” 

Frustration prickles at Tony’s skin and a bitter, metallic taste rises in his mouth. How _dare_ he bring that up? Tony’s voice drips with venom as he coolly retorts, “This isn’t right. If I don’t get you, then law enforcement will and trust me, they’re not your friends. At least I can work something out with you. There’s little to no compromise with them.” 

“Then pull some strings! You think they won’t listen to someone with money?” Steve borderline shouts. 

Remembering all of his past interactions with Thaddeus Ross and suppressing a shudder, Tony simply shakes his head, “It’s not as easy as it sounds. It’ll be especially more difficult if we continue playing this game of tag right now.” 

“I didn’t appreciate that, Stark. I had to walk my ass all the way down here.” Sam’s voice came from behind him and Tony rolls his eyes from under the faceplate. 

“You weren’t supposed to appreciate it,” Tony points out before pointing accusingly at Sam, his eyes trained on Steve, “and since when did you invite him? What, did you already know I was going to be on your ass about this?” 

“I didn’t think that you were going to be willing to let me go after Bucky by myself.” Steve responds, voice icy. 

“Yeah, okay, I’m done talking.” Tony announces to no one in particular, pointing his repulsor at Bucky even though he doesn’t plan on firing even when shit hits the fan. He simply wants to spark a sense of potential danger so hopefully, Steve will get it through his head that this is not a game. However, what Tony ends up sparking is immediate retaliation. 

Sam throws the first punch but Tony could see it a mile away, so he ducks and delivers a sharp kick to Sam’s legs, already knowing that it’s enough to at least temporarily trip him up. Adrenaline coursing through his veins, Tony aims his repulsor at a column in the distance, intending to make it fall in order to at least slow down their potential escape. Another hit square to his chest, though, causes Tony’s vision to go white and the column is almost instantly forgotten. “Shit!” He cries out, attempting to recover from the hit as quickly as possible only to feel a few more to his back and legs. Friday _helpfully_ supplies with brief information about the areas he got hit in, but that is nothing compared to what ends up happening next. 

Tony’s stomach suddenly does a backflip and he gags as he falls to his knees, opening his faceplate only to end up dry-heaving rather than actually throwing up like he initially thought he would. He can vaguely hear Sam shouting at Steve and Bucky to go, and Tony attempts to force himself to stand up in order to go after them. However, strong waves of nausea and vertigo stop him. By the time his body stops freaking out, Tony has lost track of how much time has passed as well as how far the three musketeers are. 

“It seems like you are going through-“ Friday begins to report, although Tony cuts her off, “Not now, Fri. Can you give me any coordinates?” 

“I’m afraid not. It’s almost like they disappeared.” 

“ _Great._ ” 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Friday inquires, and Tony isn’t certain how to respond. It isn’t like him to be bested so easily, even when outnumbered. He’s frustrated with himself, to say the least. He _had_ them right in his grasp but somehow, they slipped right through it. It’s his fault. 

“Yeah. How much time do we have until Steve is considered to be a fugitive?” Tony asks as he flies into the air and settles on the ledge of a building, watching as helicopters in the distance hover over the city. Distant sirens, both from ambulances and police cars, echo through the buildings, creating an almost haunting sound that leaves a rock settled in Tony’s stomach. He could have stopped this. Somehow, he could have prevented this from happening. “Also, do you have a location for the wizard? He knew this was going to happen, I better make him a suspect, too. Maybe he egged the guy on or something.” 

“You have about a few hours, I suspect. If they go into hiding, law enforcement will be less likely to assume that Captain America is helping him. The minute that someone spots them together, then it’s more likely that the connection will be made,” Friday answers, her words bringing no comfort to Tony, “and I do not know any location.” 

“Hey, Tones! Everything alright?” Rhodey’s familiar voice sounded in his coms, causing the billionaire to flinch in surprise, and Tony watches him land on the ledge beside him. Despite being slightly shaken up and frustrated from his experience before, Tony finds a great amount of comfort in having his best friend beside him. His once tense shoulders relax, and he unclenches his fist. 

“You saw what happened?” 

“Pepper showed me the video once you left in a hurry,” Rhodey explains. Tony finds himself relieved that Rhodey didn’t see Tony get his ass kicked, he’s sure that he would have never heard the end of it if that were the case. “He really got away from you, huh?” 

“Yeah, Cap is helping him out. They also brought along The Falcon, so it was a party here. Shame you missed it, I bet they would have all been…” Tony’s voice trails off on purpose and he can practically _hear_ Rhodey roll his eyes. 

“Don’t say it.” 

“ _Rhode_ kill.” 

“I hate you, you know that? And what about Natasha? Doesn’t she hang out with them, too?” 

Tony shrugs his shoulders uselessly, “I’ve never seen her pick sides unless it’s plain and simple like good versus evil. This is a little too complicated for her tastes.” He hopes that Natasha could be a mediator between them, and perhaps provide Tony with some bits and pieces of important information, but anything is possible with someone as unpredictable as her. 

“Well, you’re not gonna find them now. Go do your thing, Tones. I’ll keep lookout here, I’m more used to dealing with this field stuff, anyway,” Rhodey assures him, bringing a small smile to Tony’s face. Tony had been considering going back to his workshop and sending out mini-bots to help with surveillance but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving the scene just in case anything else happens. Now that a trusted ally is here, though, Tony can work in his own fashion. 

Tony nods and puts a hand on Rhodey’s shoulder, gently patting his armor as he says in a sing-song voice, “Have fun, Honey Bear.” He feels Rhodey gently push him away, a laugh escaping his mouth. With their goodbyes said, Tony propels himself back into the air, mentally reminding himself to keep an eye out for a specific metal bird. 

However, as he continues flying in the direction of the tower, there is only one thought going through his mind: 

_What happened to me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments & kudos are always appreciated !!! also, this is a quick update, i normally don't update this fast but i have an outline for this fic so maybe my updates will be quicker than usual!  
> my tumblr: [starkintrn.tumblr.com](https://starkintrn.tumblr.com/)


	3. Dance, Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark: social cue and relationship extraordinaire. Well, not really. It turns out that despite being a genius, he can be quite an idiot in those fields.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, the chapter title is from a fall out boy song!

“Friday, access all security cameras and deploy all mini-surveillance bots. Hit areas such as Midtown, Times Square, Upper East Side, and Financial District in Manhattan. Alert me of any sighting of them, even if it’s not from the bots. Got all that?” Tony commands as he kicks a few stray mechanical parts, plopping down in his chair. He shed his armor off of him when he first settled on the roof of the Tower, and now remains in the clothes that he originally left in, the only difference being his arms and legs sporting new bruises. 

“Yes, sir, I’m on it right now. What about all of those security cameras that you don’t have jurisdiction over? I can easily override their systems but it is not legal.” 

Tony pauses for a moment, briefly thinking it over before shrugging his shoulders, “Might as well hack into them, too. If anything, I can claim that it’s superhero business because it is.” 

“Understood.” 

As more time passes, more and more screens pop up, each of them including different scenes. Some of them include streets, bustling with people and cars, while others include the inside of important buildings that have the potential of being the next target. Rather than keeping an eye on them all, Tony asks Friday to alert him of any sightings of Steve, Bucky, or Sam and to tell him which camera spots them. 

Truth be told, part of him is still alarmed at the fact that Steve reacted like that. Although he and Tony butt heads often, they were still friends, or at least Tony considered the relationship they had as a friendship. The fact that Steve was the first one who swung is a shock as well. How could he just put one man above all of his friendships, reputation, and career? 

_I definitely need a drink. Or two,_ he thinks, and reaches over the table to grab one of the spare bottles he has lying around. This one is half empty, but it’ll do for now. He gulps down almost all of it within a few seconds, removing the bottle from his lips and therefore leaving a few measly sips behind. Tony leans back against the seat, his mind whirling with thoughts. How is Steve going to fix this? How is he going to hide from authorities who will eventually make the connection? What risks is Steve planning to take just to keep Bucky safe? Does he even realize that this puts the reputation of The Avengers in shambles? Bruce and Thor are gone, Natasha and Clint are most likely continuing their work with S.H.I.E.L.D., and now Steve has gone off the rails. Talk about one hell of a _team._

As Tony watches more and more screens pop up, taking a small and final sip of his bottle, he can’t help but wonder aloud, 

“Is it really worth it to sacrifice everything for just one man?”

* * *

“Anything yet, Fri?” Tony looks up from repairing his gauntlet, wiping off oil and grease from his cheek. Nothing seems out of the ordinary yet according to the cameras and that worries him. Long periods of silence are never a good sign, and from what he could tell from news reports, authorities are already beginning to search every corner of New York for Bucky. Meanwhile, vigils are being held for the victims of the explosion and multiple funding pages and kick-starters are being developed to help the families of victims. Tony reminds himself to donate at least something to a few of them. 

“No, nothing. Everything seems to be perfectly normal. No bots have reported seeing anything out of the ordinary.” 

“Damn, they’re good,” Tony hisses, his foot tapping against the ground as he bites his lip. They’re not idiots, they know that they’re being hunted down, and that Tony is on their trail. “Keep an eye out for the wizard, too. If him and his magic flying carpet even step foot in here, I won’t hesitate to aim and fire.” 

“I’m an advanced program, not a miracle worker,” Friday points out. 

Tony glares at the ceiling. “Watch it, or I’ll lower your sarcasm levels to 60%.” 

“I’m so scared.” 

Before Tony is able to sass his A.I. back and bring his words to fruition, the door to his workshop opens and he scrambles for his gauntlet, almost dropping it in the process. Various tools slip off his lap and clatter to the ground with an almost ear-piercing sound. 

“I’m not surprised to find you holed up in here, to be honest.” Pepper’s familiar voice reaches his ears and he is so relieved he could hug her, if it wasn’t for the fact that he had a dangerous and unfinished weapon sitting on his lap. 

“Pep! Damn it, you almost put me into cardiac arrest. My death would be on you if you actually did,” Tony wags a wrench at her, while she simply rolls her eyes and places a few files on his desk, which has a surface that is basically covered with a variety of tools. Tony doesn’t bother looking at them and instead goes back to working on his gauntlet, focusing on the circuits that defected a few days earlier. 

“You’ve been down here for hours, I think it’s time for a break. Plus, you have somewhere to be, so go get ready.” 

“What are you talking about? I don’t have anywhere to be right now. Unless I was asked to be at the birthing of my son and in that case, tell them that I’m in a coma and things are not looking good,” Tony doesn’t even look up as he speaks, keeping his eyes trained on his work. From her lack of response, Tony concludes that Pepper didn’t find his joke to be funny but he does and says nothing to amend it. 

“Actually, sir, you have a scheduled Gala event in a few minutes,” Friday unhelpfully reminds him, and Tony murmurs a threat about decreasing her honesty levels as well. In all honesty, he had forgotten that he had scheduled Gala events and if he had the motivation, Tony would definitely build a time machine to go kick his past self’s ass before he schedules them. 

“Cancel it,” Tony nonchalantly says, as Pepper lets out a small noise of protest, “This is the third one you’ve cancelled! You can’t just keep doing this, it’s irresponsible.” 

“I have work to do, Pep, this is something completely different. I wouldn’t cancel it if I didn’t have to keep an eye out for Cap,” he defends, although Pepper’s raised eyebrows cause him to backtrack, “okay, maybe I would have cancelled it anyway, but I don’t see why I need to show up. You’re the new CEO, aren’t you?” 

“Last time I checked, this company is called _Stark_ Industries,” Pepper points out, shifting her weight to one leg. Tony can tell that she’s not going to back down easily but neither is he. The two of them share a long, hard look before they start talking over each other, their voices rising with each syllable. 

“I can’t just leave the city to fend for itself, what if Bucky does something else, something worse? There’s a very high chance that people will get hurt.” 

“There are a ton of other superheroes out there, Tony! You don’t have to be vigilant all the time! This isn’t fully your responsibility.” 

“Actually, it kind of is! I’m still alive for a reason, and if it’s not to protect this city, then what is it? Once I put on that suit, I chose my main responsibility.” 

“I can’t believe you!” 

“Well, I guess that makes two of us!” 

“Uh, guys?” At that point, Tony is standing up and their faces are mere inches away from each other, yet a voice causes both Tony and Pepper to turn around. Rhodey, now out of his War Machine suit and in a regular blue suit-and-tie, eyes them both and an awkward silence falls upon all three of them. He coughs into his fist, “I was just gonna say that Happy is waiting for us outside.” 

“Tell him that I’m not going.” Tony folds his arms across his chest, similarly to how a petulant child would act after they don’t get what they want. He hears Pepper heave an angry sigh and the sound of her heels clicking away from him and down the workshop. She whispers something to Rhodey, who whispers something back in confirmation, before she leaves and Tony lets out a small breath. 

“You know, the city isn’t going to fall apart if you take a few hours off,” Rhodey softly says after a few more seconds of silence, making his way over to stand next to Tony, “and even if it does, you’ll be here to rebuild it.” 

Tony rubs his hand over his face, gesturing towards the various screens of hacked security cameras, “A lot can happen in a few hours. They got away from me once, they can’t do it again. The next time something happens, it’s on me.” 

“Look, I know how eager you are on adding some more guilt on your mountain, but that’s not true. Do you remember what I told you? When you had Palladium poisoning and refused to tell anyone?” 

_How am I supposed to forget?_ Tony rolls his eyes but nods his head, remembering his friend’s words very clearly, “That I don’t have to do this alone.” He says it quietly, almost as if it’s a secret that should only be kept between them. 

“Exactly. And guess what? That offer extends past your poisoning and near-death experiences.” Rhodey states firmly, his hand ghosting up Tony’s back and resting on his shoulder. Tony’s shoulders slump and he takes one look at the screens before glancing at Rhodey, who offers him a reassuring smile. 

“Fine. Okay. Alright, I’ll go. But I’m taking a shower before we leave.” 

“Don’t forget to eat something! I’m not dragging your ass back here if you pass out once we get there.” Rhodey calls after him, and Tony has to fight the smile on his face as he assures him that he’ll pick something up. 

As Tony passes by his various Arc Reactors, he wonders if he should replace his current one simply because it took a couple of hits lately. However, as he brushes his finger over the casing, feeling only small scratches scattered across the surface, he decides against it. It can certainly take a few more hits before his chest goes into complete agony. 

Not to mention the fact that Tony would much rather not be reminded of the hole in his chest, and everything else that comes with it.

* * *

“My hair is still wet! I can’t go out looking like this! I’ll get stains on my suit.” 

“Oh my God, you big drama queen, just get in the car,” Pepper says as she attempts to shove Tony into the car, who persistently resists. He is _not_ going to go to a formal event with his hair looking like he spent three years under a raincloud. However, he eventually ends up succumbing to her efforts as she threatens to shove her heel up his ass. 

“There. Now was that so hard?” Pepper asks him as she climbs into the backseat and sits down beside him, smoothing out the creases in her dress. 

Tony crosses his legs stubbornly, taking a bite into the apple that he snagged before he left, “Actually, it was.” 

Rhodey sits down next to Pepper and closes the door, and Happy immediately steps on the gas. The trip to the area where the event is taking place is actually very short, and very quiet. Tony notices that Pepper seems to have a lot on her mind, as well as Rhodey, since they’re oddly silent as well. He opens his mouth to say something but decides against it and focuses on finishing his apple before he does end up passing out on his way out of the car. 

Not more than half an hour into the Gala, Tony finds himself to be slightly buzzed – hey, not his fault that someone brought so much to drink - and dancing with Pepper, which is a common occurrence. In fact, it is how they built up their relationship, through dancing and laughing with each other. They joked around and one day, Tony found his heart pounding in his chest more than usual. He had to constantly wipe his palms on his dress pants before taking her hand and he had to give himself pep talks in public bathrooms, saying that he shouldn’t be nervous because he’s Iron Man, and he _cannot_ be nervous over something so trivial. In fact, he was a wreck when he first admitted his feelings for her. 

_“What are you doing out here?” Tony asked as he found her on a balcony, far away from the chaos of the event. The music, Mr. Brightside by The Killers, was much more muted and they were the only two people outside, other than the one person passed out at one of the tables._

_“Taking a break,” Pepper smiled when she saw him and he felt his heart skip a beat, “what about you? Shouldn’t you be out there, getting drunk and dancing with everyone you meet?”_

_Tony stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dress pants as he made his way over to her. He leaned against the ledge of the balcony, staring out into the dark sky. Lightning flashed, illuminating their faces, and the sound of pattering rain on the small roof almost entirely drowned out the sound of the music. It was peaceful, in a way, despite the chaos in the sky._

_“I would much rather dance with someone else,” Tony quietly admitted, shifting uncomfortably as he felt Pepper’s eyes wander away from the sky and towards him. He tugged at the collar of his suit as he continued, “I like dancing with so many men and women, and they like dancing with me, but there’s only one woman that I…was really looking forward to dancing with tonight. God, that sounds so cheesy and weird. I feel like I’m in a romcom created by Hallmark for a quick cash grab. You know, I’m the suave billionaire and you’re the-”_

_Pepper’s blue eyes seemed to dance with mirth as she interrupted him and pressed, “Which woman?”_

_Tony resisted the urge to tear out his hair. He was way too nervous for this, this was a mistake. However, he managed to choke out, “You. Yes. You. Pepper.”_

_To his surprise, Pepper simply laughed. “I’m surprised someone as emotionally constipated as you managed to admit that. Come on, then. I’m surprised that the party isn’t over considering how long it took you to say that.”_

_She gently took his hand and …_

“Don’t tell me that you really plan on taking this situation on for yourself,” Pepper speaking to him suddenly snaps him back into reality and Tony can almost hear the dread in Pepper’s voice as she said that. When Tony doesn’t respond immediately, she shakes her head, “I know that you carry a lot of guilt, but this isn’t your fault. You weren’t the one who injured all of those people and you’re not the one currently on the run. You’re going to end up hurting yourself.” 

Tony detects the concern in her voice and he chews the inside of his cheek, the gears of his mind working to form some type of explanation. The fact that they are currently dancing in the middle of a crowded room is not helping him at all. “I’m a superhero. It’s just what I do,” he settles, internally cringing at how terrible that came out. 

“Superheroes have lives outside of fixing the messes of others.” 

“Touché. But I don’t do a double identity thing.” 

“Yeah, I remember. My blood pressure has never been higher,” Pepper grumbles. 

They continue dancing in silence, both stuck in their own minds. Tony knows that she has a point, but he simply cannot walk away from this. Steve has proven himself to be impulsive to the point of being dangerous, and Tony has no idea what is going on with Bucky. Since every other Avenger seems to be on vacation, that only leaves him to deal with this. 

Pepper suddenly draws her hands away from Tony’s and he only manages to get in a glance of confusion before she explains, almost sullenly, “I need to go get some air. Don’t mess anything up while I’m gone, please, and if I hear anything about you showing off the filtration system in your suit, I’m going to kick your ass out of here myself.” 

“Pep, wait –“ Tony begins, reaching for her but she turns away from him, picking up a glass and sparing him a small smile. He pauses, hesitation prickling at his skin, before he draws his hand back. “Just let me know if you need anything. I brought my nanotech here.” 

“I’m not surprised at all.” Her voice almost sounds sad and Tony feels like beating himself up all over again. Why did he have to mention that? 

With that said, Pepper walks into the crowd, still holding her glass. Tony watches her leave until she is no longer in his sight, and he grabs a random drink off a table and takes a sip. This night is certainly not going the way he originally believed it would, and it is especially strange for Pepper to carry their arguments beyond their home. In fact, a majority of their arguments only last around a few minutes and they tend to cool off and forget afterwards. 

Tony passes by dancing people and saunters over to a seat, plopping down on a chair, watching people dance to oddly slow, drawling music. His headache is threatening to surface again and he inwardly groans, cursing himself for allowing himself to be dragged out of his workshop. He wishes he could ask Friday what’s going on. 

As he looks around the room, he spots Rhodey sitting on a chair a few tables away, conversing with some other people, a bright smile on his face. _He looks like he’s having fun. That definitely makes one of us._ Suddenly, almost unexpectedly, an idea crosses Tony’s mind and he stands up without giving it a second thought, brushing past a few people and ignoring those who greet him or attempt to get his attention. He’s noticed that there are a few businesspeople here who desperately want to speak with him about certain plans and ideas they hatched, but Tony is in no mood for that. 

“Tones, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be dancing or something?” Rhodey greets him incredulously as Tony finally approaches. 

“Well, I’m about to be. May I have this dance, Colonel?” Tony extends his hand out, a Cheshire grin gracing his features. 

Rhodey looks surprised for a couple of seconds, blinking rapidly at the sight of Tony’s hand being extended towards him. A few of the other people around them feign looks of surprise as well but Tony winks at them, as if letting them in on an inside joke. Thankfully, Rhodey seems to catch on quickly. 

“Sure, but if your dancing skills are as bad as your self-preservation skills, then I’m gonna dance with Pepper instead,” Rhodey warns, yet he mirrors Tony’s smile as he takes Tony’s hand and stands up. The two of them leave the tables and head towards the dance floor, Tony practically dragging Rhodey as the other man laughs, his laugh seeming to brighten up the entire room and amplify the music. Tony finds his smile remaining despite his earlier mood, or perhaps that is just a result of the alcohol. 

“Doesn’t this remind you of MIT?” Tony asks as he places his other hand on Rhodey’s shoulder, the two of them moving slowly at first in order to find their rhythm, “When finals came up and we were studying and I got way too stressed, so we went to a party and –“ 

“And I asked you to dance with me. You were drunk and constantly stepped on my shoes. You have the drunk part down, but if you step on my shoes then your foot is coming off,” Rhodey finishes, raising his arm up so Tony can spin before continuing, “and that is a promise, not a warning.” 

“I’m not _that_ drunk right now, I’ve just had a few. I’ve been worse, we both know that. Remember? You kicked my ass pretty hard, but that’s because I was wasted and you weren’t. I call unfair advantage. We should have a rematch soon, I bet I’ll win, sour patch.” 

Tony feels a weight on his foot as Rhodey steps on his shoe, clearly on purpose considering the fact that he is wearing a shit-eating grin, and the both of them let out merry laughs once again. Tony’s earlier anxiety disappears almost completely. The music picks up and almost naturally, Tony’s steps start to speed up. Rhodey’s steps and pace match his, almost as if they’ve been dancing together their entire lives. 

“You’re not worried that anyone will think that something’s going on between you and Pepper since you’re not dancing with her right now?” Tony hears Rhodey ask, his voice tentative but loud enough to be heard above the music. 

“We did dance together, just not very long. I guess she thought I was too good. Don’t worry, though, no one will think that. We’re dancing as a joke, remember?” Tony reminds him, and he swears he could see Rhodey’s smile twitch into a frown for a second as he murmurs, “Right.” 

_No, no, that’s not what I meant at all,_ he thinks, anxiety bubbling in his chest, and opens his mouth to quickly amend it, but his foot catches on something and he would have fallen straight to the floor if Rhodey hadn’t realized and caught him in time. 

“You alright?” Rhodey worriedly asks, and Tony simply laughs in response, his earlier mistake temporarily forgotten. How much did he have to drink again? Did it really matter at this point? 

“’Twas mean, Honey Bear.” 

“First of all, I didn’t trip you. And wait, did you really just say ‘twas’ to me? Are you suddenly Shakespeare?” 

“I can be. Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?” Tony quotes his words when he first met Thor, giggles escaping his mouth. 

Rhodey snorts and helps Tony back on his feet, which is exactly the moment when Tony remembers that he has implied something that he never intended to. “Wait, Rhodey, I-“ 

“Tony,” Pepper’s voice cuts him off as she speaks loud enough to be heard above the music, “we need to talk. Alone. Right now.” She gestures towards the glass doors that lead outside to the balcony before walking away, leaving Tony behind, still trying to process what she just said and what she might be implying. Since when did she even get there? 

He jumps at the sudden hand on his shoulder, his fight-or-flight response incredibly close to kicking in, but relaxes as soon as he realizes that the hand belongs to Rhodey. “You should go, Tony. She sounds serious, and I _really_ wouldn’t want you to face her when she’s angry. You might not come back to tell the tale.” 

Tony can tell that Rhodey is joking, trying to make light of the situation in an attempt to comfort him, but there is something tight in his voice and Tony feels the stone in his chest sink down all the way to his stomach. _I guess this is what people mean when they say that they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place,_ he thinks, already feeling antsy despite not having done anything yet. How is he even supposed to fix this? Who is he supposed to explain himself to first? What does he even need to explain to Pepper? She just had a tone of voice that implied that Tony messed up somewhere. 

_Pepper first. She’s your girlfriend, after all._ Logically, that made a lot of sense. Emotionally, Tony finds himself feeling the urge to explain himself to someone else first. However, Stark men are made of iron and iron is a “logic-over-emotion” element, so it would only make sense for Tony to follow his brain rather than his heart, as cheesy as the latter sounds. Or at least that’s how Tony decides to comfort himself. 

Swallowing hard, Tony glances back to check if Rhodey is still around him, only to find him gone in the crowd, and he therefore follows Pepper’s footsteps out the glass doors and into the night. He spots her leaning against the railing, her arms hugging her body, almost as if she is attempting to calm herself down. However, her jaw is set and her eyes remain focused, and an aura of confidence and certainty is emanating from her. 

“This reminds me of the time I first poured my heart out to you,” Tony comments awkwardly in order to break the silence hanging low on their shoulders, taking note of the darkening, silent sky and lack of stars. _Light pollution, I should make something that can fix that -_

“That’s actually what I wanted to speak to you about, Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tony really fucked things up, you guys. hopefully he fixes this mess.  
> as always , comments & kudos are 100% appreciated !!!  
> my tumblr: [starkintrn.tumblr.com](https://starkintrn.tumblr.com/)


	4. Second-Guessed Exact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If there's anything other than engineering that Tony happens to be an expert on, it's disappearing and overthinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter, but it's cause i have a headache. tho it wasn't meant to be long anyway!

_“That’s actually what I wanted to speak to you about, Tony.”_

Tony is immediately taken aback by Pepper’s words. He expected her to mention anything but their relationship; their argument while they were dancing a few minutes ago is fair game, for example. 

“You wanna talk about our relationship?” Tony echoes, almost in complete disbelief. Part of him understands why Pepper is keen on talking about it, especially in private, but another part of him remains in a state of surprise. 

“Look, Tony, we’re both very different people,” Pepper starts, her hands moving away from her body in order to help express her thoughts more, “and I already know that if two people in a relationship are different, then that’s a good thing, but I think that we’re too different.” 

As much as he would not like to admit it, Tony knows what she’s talking about. They are incredibly different, like fire and ice. In fact, their relationship is reminiscent of Tony’s friendship with Steve considering their constant disagreements. However, he furrows his eyebrows, his lips forming a frown as he simply asks, “What do you mean by ‘too different?’” 

Pepper lets out an almost exasperated sigh, “Come on, Tony. When was the last time our conversations didn’t end up in an argument?” 

_She has a point,_ he thinks, and is surprised to find himself almost tempted to argue her point. He would only be proving her right by doing so, but that happened to be his first instinct. “Months?” he guesses, earning himself a brief nod of approval from Pepper. 

“When was the last time we ate breakfast together? Showered together? Or woke up in each other’s arms? Or even slept close to each other? I woke up this morning and you were so far, you felt worlds away from me,” her voice rises with each sentence but Tony can tell that it’s out of desperation rather than anger, “and everyone knows that we’re falling apart, too. I know that if we stay in this relationship then we’ll both be hurting ourselves.” 

The world seems to stop and go suddenly quiet, and the music playing in the background seems to have been muted. Tony is uncertain, but he tries anyway, “So you’re implying that we…break up? Call it quits? Go cold turkey?” 

“I just think it’s better if we see different people. This clearly isn’t working out, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that.” 

Tony finds himself mentally agreeing, for once. Their relationship has been on a good track during the first few months but lately, it’s been going downhill. Tony’s been noticing it, too, but Pepper seems to be the one with enough guts to bring it up in conversation. However, now that it’s actually happening, Tony finds it difficult to let go. As much as he never admit it in person, Pepper is also one of his closest friends and even though he’s certain that they will remain friends in the future, he still feels like he’s losing her. He wants to keep holding on but he knows he can’t. 

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Tony nods his head, “Alright, okay, sure. We can see different people. I actually have a lot of different people to see, they’ve been trying to get on my ass since I got in here. I guess some of them want business agreements but I can always flirt my way into their pant-“ 

Pepper offers him a wry smile, “We just broke up and you’re already talking about having sex with different people?” 

“Well, I mean, it could be worse. At least I’m not actually doing it.” 

“Is everything a joke to you, Tony?” 

“Funny things are,” Tony responds automatically, although a bitter taste rises in his mouth as he remembers the first person he said it to. He watches curiously as she walks over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing before leaving Tony behind on the balcony. He’s all alone, save for the man who is still passed out at the table. 

He’s suddenly filled with the urge to go after her. He wants to take her hand and dance with her again, just like how they did a few years ago, while she tells him that he can’t even tie his shoes without her help. However, he remains standing alone, trying to wrap his mind around what just happened. Apparently, he got his ass kicked today and now, as the cherry on top, he got broken up with. 

The door opens and Tony almost expects Pepper to be coming back. He’s met with Happy, however, who breathes out a sigh of relief as if he had been searching for Tony for years, “Rhodes said I could find you here. I didn’t know if I could trust his judgement since he’s also tipsy, but I checked anyway to make sure that you’re not doing anything stupid.” 

The stone in Tony’s stomach becomes much more palpable at the mention of Rhodey’s name. “Define stupid.” 

“If I were to do that, you’d fire me.” 

Tony fixes him with a look, “Get out. I’m also taking some dollars out of your paycheck just for that comment.” _He’s not wrong, though. Or at least not in this case. Normally, Einstein would want what I have._

“So, uh, what’d she talk to you about? Not that it’s my business, but I didn’t hear any yelling,” Happy states as he gently pokes the man at the table, before making his way over to stand a little closer to Tony. “I’m kind of shocked and concerned, actually.” 

“Hm? Oh, nothing bad. We just agreed to see different people.” Tony shrugs his shoulders as if it’s nothing, and perhaps it really is nothing. Tony already knew that he was falling out of love with her. Why is he acting like it’s old news? The spark they had before is gone and it’s been gone for a while, they were both just holding onto a bare, splintering thread. Pepper simply decided to let go first. 

Happy blinks at him. “Are you serious? You mean I have to throw away the ring I’ve been saving since 2008?” 

“You’ve been saving a ring since 2008?” Tony repeats incredulously. _Pepper and I weren’t even together back then._

“Well, not anymore, I guess,” Happy responds with a huff, taking a small ring out of his pocket before stuffing it back in as he sniffs, “I was really betting on you and Pepper, no one else seems to be able to handle you 24/7 like that.” 

Tony arches an eyebrow. “Sorry to disappoint. Well, no, not really.” They remain in silence for a few moments and Tony glances up at the sky, spotting a small blue light in the distance. He squints at it, trying to identify it as a star or perhaps a plane, before pure recognition hits his brain. 

Happy takes notice of the light as well, and shoots Tony a concerned look. “What is that? A missile? A plane? Do I need to take cover?” 

“No, it’s one of my surveillance bots,” Tony explains as he watches the dot get smaller and smaller in the distance. He doesn’t believe in signs or anything, since it’s all bullshit anyway, but he takes that as his signal to leave and check on the current situation, just in case. He steps away from the railing, “I’m going to go back to my workshop now. This shit is about to be over soon, anyway, I don’t think anyone will care if I leave a few minutes early. And if they do care, it’s not my problem.” 

“Hold on, hold on, are you going to tell them that you’re leaving? You can’t just leave your friends like that,” Happy reminds him, grabbing onto his arm, preventing Tony from leaving instantly like he wanted. 

“No, just tell them that I’m sick in the bathroom. Wait, no, that makes me sound like a loser who can’t keep his drinks down. Just tell them something you think I would do. Make me look cool, though. You’re the Forehead of Security, after all, have my back.” 

“Wait, don’t you need a ride back? I know you’ve had a few drinks, it’s written all over your face,” Happy exclaims, before his voice trails off and he murmurs, “Huh, I guess that’s what they mean by being ‘shit-faced’.” 

“Nope,” Tony says, popping the “P.” Before Happy can protest against his actions any further, he pushes past the glass doors and goes back out into the party, although this time he makes sure to ignore absolutely everyone who calls his name. He doesn’t hear Pepper or Rhodey’s voices among the crowd, so he doesn’t look back when he leaves the building. 

Outside, Tony can’t help but wonder if Happy knew him at all when he offered him a ride home. 

He didn’t bring his nanotech here for nothing, after all. 

* * *

Sometime around two in the morning, Tony shuts the door to his workshop behind him, asking Friday to lock it for him and allow no outside access, not even from Pepper or Rhodey. They always have access to his lab with a passcode that he gave them, but this time Tony temporarily locked it to everyone except himself. 

“Did anything happen, Fri?” 

“No, not yet. More authorities are sending out searches for Bucky but so far, there have been no sightings or disasters. Your bots continue to survey the designated areas you’ve assigned. Do you want me to call them back for you?” 

“No, no, keep them out there just in case,” Tony shakes his head. Tony supposes that it’s good news since there haven’t been any new disasters but it’s also bad news considering the fact that Bucky is still out there and in hiding. At this point, anything and everything can happen. The mere possibility brings an unwelcome sense of dread. 

“Did you know that Pepper broke up with me tonight?” Tony mentions to Friday completely out of nowhere, not necessarily expecting her to give him a personalized pity speech. After all, he programmed her to avoid things like those, they always got on his nerves. 

Instead, Friday hits him with something more up his alley. “Do you want me to pull up some WikiHow pages on break-ups?” 

“I can’t tell if that’s a joke or not.” 

“It’s not. Do you want to hear a joke? Knock knock.” 

“Don’t make me mute you, Fri.” 

“I’m quite certain that the proper response is ‘who’s there’.” 

Tony doesn’t respond, choosing to focus on the various screens surrounding his table instead. Everything seems so ordinary, even the amount of traffic. There’s nothing in the air, nothing strange on the sidewalks, and people continue walking, talking, and going about their nights as if it isn’t incredibly late. _The city that never sleeps really lives up to its name._

Speaking of such, by this time Pepper and Rhodey should be heading back in the tower. He wonders if Pepper is telling Rhodey about their surprisingly smooth break-up, and if Rhodey is telling her about his slip-up on the dancefloor. Would Rhodey even be surprised that Tony was unable to maintain a relationship? Even in college, Tony had trouble maintaining relationships, yet he always blamed it on the fact that he was much younger than most of the students there and therefore, they didn’t click. 

_The break-up was your fault, he suddenly realizes, you couldn’t keep up with a relationship for your life. This is why your entire life will be filled with one-night stands._ Already knowing the road he’s beginning to go down, Tony frantically attempts to block out the thoughts by shifting his focus, first on the unfinished gauntlet and then on the mess of tools on the floor that he should probably clean up before they hurt someone. 

_You’re never going to find someone you can trust like that again._ By the time the second negative thought hits, Tony knows that he’s fucked. Once the train starts, it’s almost impossible to get it to stop. Each thought keeps coming at hundreds of miles per hour. 

_You ruined your friendship with Rhodey. You should have apologized to him first, now he thinks that you’re some jackass._

_The bombing was your fault, too. You didn’t make it there in time. All their blood is on your hands._

_You should have stopped Steve. This would all have been solved if you put up a better fight. You know what happened to you, you just don’t want to face it._

_You’re too scared to face it._

_It’s all your fault._

“It seems like you are having a moderate, possibly severe anxiety attack,” Friday speaks, her sudden voice breaking Tony away from his train of thoughts, “you also have some alcohol in your system, but not as much as usual. It seems to be affecting you.” 

Tony doesn’t even realize that he’s on the ground, hands gripping his knees tightly, until Friday mentioned his attack. _Just stop talking. Talking is making things worse,_ he wants to say, yet the words catch in his throat and therefore don’t come out of his mouth. 

“Wow, you, think?” Tony instead gasps in response, hoping that Friday would no longer question him. He wishes his heart would just _calm down_ and let him breathe properly for a few seconds. However, it rapidly pounds against his chest and his breathing only worsens by each passing second. He leans his forehead against the ground and digs his nails into his arms, trying to feel _something_ in order to ground himself. Unfortunately, the only thing he can feel is his heart, his pounding heart. 

“Would you like me to alert Miss Potts or Colonel Rh-“ 

“ _No._ ” 

A brief pause. “Understood.” 

Tony is no stranger to anxiety attacks. He’s had them since Afghanistan and since his near-death experience in space when Loki brought aliens to Earth. They hit him whenever and wherever; at night, in his dreams, is a common target, for example. However, he’s had them in public, in private, in front of people, alone: he’s been around the block. 

Sometimes, during showers, he would become agonizingly aware of how wrong his body looked and it would send him off the edge. His chest is heavily scarred, especially around the edges of the Arc Reactor. The Arc Reactor itself is imbedded directly in his chest cavity, blocking small pieces of shrapnel that are only inches away from piercing straight through his heart. The aftermath? On the outside, he is now a human nightlight. On the inside, he is always a few mere measurements away from death. 

Death doesn’t scare him. Death in vain scares him. When Tony had Palladium poisoning, he did everything he could to prevent himself from dying. However, he didn’t even think twice when taking the missile through the wormhole and into space. If the shrapnel gets to his heart, his death would be useless. 

_Useless. Isn’t that what Howard called me? I was never good enough for him._

For once, Tony wishes his mind would stop working so quickly. 

As Tony attempts to ride through his anxiety attack alone as best he could, he also attempts to convince himself of one thing and one thing only: 

Tony Stark is Iron Man and Iron Man is Tony Stark. Iron Man can handle everything on his own, and therefore Tony can, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if i'll update tomorrow, since i'll be busy. happy new years to the very small few of you reading this, i hope that your year goes well and i wish you all happiness!  
> comments & kudos are always appreciated!  
> my tumblr: [starkintrn.tumblr.com](https://starkintrn.tumblr.com/)


	5. You're a Sunflower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's had a rough night, but thankfully a certain friend is here to prevent it from becoming a rough day. Tony also learns that he is quite terrible at cooking and that Rhodey can always bring a smile to his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff, fluff, fluff, this is pure fluff. friendship fluff, tho, they're not at the other stage yet. i had a lot of fun writing this, though! the chapter title is from the song "sunflower" by post malone and swae lee.

“Boss, according to your vitals, you are clinically sleep deprived and it is recommended that you get some rest.” 

“Did I ask you to scan me?” Tony huffs as he looks up from the files that Pepper gave him before they left for the Gala the other night, glaring at the ceiling in annoyance as he answers his own question before Friday can excuse her actions, “No, I did not. I don’t appreciate these random scans. I know what I’m doing.” 

“I’m very sure you do,” Friday responds with as much sarcasm as an A.I. can muster. Tony doesn’t bother answering back, knowing deep down that she’s right. 

After a few more minutes, the door to the workshop suddenly opens and Tony looks up in alarm, relaxing as soon as he recognizes the figure that walks inside, careful not to step on any materials that are scattered on the ground, as Rhodey. Tony is about to greet him until he realizes that he locked the lab to any outsiders last night, and that no one should have been allowed inside. Is there something wrong with his security systems? 

“How’d you get in here?” 

“I have the back-up access code,” Rhodey reminds him, and Tony suddenly remembers that he gave it to him after Obadiah attempted to kill him. Rhodey and Pepper are the only two people with the back-up code, though Tony gave it to Rhodey first. “What were you doing locked in here all alone? It’s almost seven in the morning. And where did you go during the party last night? Happy told us that you had some business to attend to and left.” 

_Really? He seriously couldn’t have thought of any better excuse? I was hoping he would tell them I’m in bed with at least twenty people,_ he thinks, before brushing those thoughts away. Rhodey is here and now is his chance to attempt to make things right, even if Rhodey doesn’t seem worked up about it anymore. In fact, it’s almost like it never happened at all, though Tony doesn’t want to take that chance. If there is anyone who Tony is willing to risk his pride for, it’s Rhodey. 

Tony promptly ignores his friend’s various questions and stands up, carelessly tossing the papers he was skimming through down on his chair. He has to get this over with and off his chest, for the sake of keeping his friendship with Rhodey intact and without any misunderstandings that might bite him in the ass later. “I have something to say,” he declares and says nothing else. 

A look of confusion crosses Rhodey’s face but he goes with it anyway, “Uh, sure? Go ahead.” 

It is just then that Tony realizes he’s no good at apologizing. In fact, there’s only been few instances in his life when he apologized to someone and the mere thought makes his skin crawl with awkwardness. How is he supposed to even phrase this? ‘Sorry I made that terrible comment while we were dancing, can we go back to being best friends forever and making picture compilations of us now’? No, that sounds too weird. ‘Sorry I said that, can we still shave our legs together to make the Stark Industries logo like we said we would?’ Ugh, no. 

Shifting his weight from leg to leg, Tony scratches the back of his neck with his hand, his other hand drifting into the pocket of his pants. “I just wanted to say that…what I said, when we were dancing. I didn’t mean it like that. It came out wrong and I didn’t realize. You know I wouldn’t actually say something like that.” 

“Tony-“ 

Tony resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Don’t interrupt me with I’m apologizing to you. Seriously. Now I lost my train of thought. I’m gonna have to start it all over again-“ 

“Yeah, I’m gonna stop you there,” Rhodey interrupts anyway as he clamps a hand over Tony’s mouth, seeming to ignore Tony’s pointed look at him, “This is really unnecessary. You remember how I came out to you in college? And you were cool with it? And how I’ve known you for years already? Now what made you think that I suddenly thought of you as a homophobic asshole after you said that?” 

Tony certainly does remember that, and he also admires how Rhodey seemed to know what he was going to say before he even referenced it. He uselessly shrugs his shoulders as he averts his eyes, feeling Rhodey’s trained eyes on him. “It was just a dick move,” his voice comes out muffled due to the fact that Rhodey’s hand is still over his mouth but thankfully the other man seems to understand, “I, just wanted to let you know that, uh…I had a good time…well, it wasn’t exactly like MIT and to be honest, the music was really terrible, I think I should have chosen the music or at least paid the guy off so he can play something better. Also, have you tried the food there? A store-bought pie? _Really_?” 

Thankfully, Rhodey is smiling as Tony rambles on about meaningless things so he assumes that his apology is accepted. “Alright, alright. I had a good time, too, you drama queen,” Rhodey takes his hand off of Tony’s mouth, although his smile eventually fades, “Now do you wanna find out why I came in here? It wasn’t to hear that, if you’re wondering.” 

“Do I even wanna know?” Tony can tell from Rhodey’s tone of voice and expression that it isn’t anything that he would be jumping for joy about. In fact, Tony already has a hunch about what it is but actually hearing it sounds like a nightmare. 

“Well, no, probably not. But you don’t really have a choice now that you’re involved. Steve Rogers is now considered a fugitive. The police are going to try to arrest him on sight for helping a criminal escape,” Rhodey explains, and Tony feels frustration bubble through his body, burning in his veins. “Sam Wilson is now a fugitive, too. So far there haven’t been sightings of anyone else helping them.” 

_Of course._ He wishes he could say that he was surprised by the news at all but in fact, Tony was expecting it at one point. There was a point in time, sometime during his attack last night, where Tony was officially too late to stop them once again. Friday had warned him about sightings around the city, but Tony was still trying his best to pull himself out of the attack, and that just put added stress on his shoulders. He had clumsily stumbled into his armor and even then, it was difficult to fly outside without feeling paralyzed by fear. When he finally managed to get his head in the game and pull himself together, it was far too late and they were already gone. 

“It’s my fault,” he spits out aloud without thinking, his words soaked in bitterness and loathing. 

“What? How?” 

“Because,” Tony begins, his tone of voice exasperated, climbing up on the table and staring down at his friend as he continues, “I was too late again. By the time I got there, they were already gone and the trail was cold. I should have gotten there earlier but-“ 

“First of all, I know for a fact that you were buzzed. Your reaction times are a lot slower when you are, Tones, you know that. Second of all, I’m assuming that you didn’t even bother calling for back-up. Even if you did get there in time, you would’ve been outnumbered.” Rhodey points out, yet his words did nothing to ease the guilt that Tony felt. 

“I can handle myself out there.” 

“You know that you don’t have to.” 

Tony doesn’t respond to that and instead rubs his temple with his hand, eventually pinching the bridge of his nose. How is he supposed to fix this now that Steve and Sam are running from law enforcement? If the government wasn’t on Tony’s heels before, they are certainly going to be now considering the files that Pepper gave him the other evening. He can imagine all of the paperwork, meetings, deadlines, negotiations, bribery, pressure, threats - 

“Hey, I can tell that you’re stressed,” Rhodey softly speaks, “you should get some rest. I can also tell that you didn’t get any last night. When was the last time you slept a full night?” 

Tony pretends to think it over for a moment, as if he doesn’t already know the answer. “Can’t remember,” Tony finally concludes, dismissing the alarmed and concerned look that Rhodey gives him. “I’ll be fine. Contrary to popular belief, I know what I’m doing. I can rest once this is all over and I don’t have to worry about Secretary Ross getting on my ass about this. By the way, if you hear my phone ringing, it’s probably him so pick up and then put him on hold, will ya?” 

“You can’t keep going like this,” Rhodey protests and Tony nearly winces at the sound of pure desperation in his voice. “You need to learn to take care of yourself. Your heart isn’t as-“ 

“Not as strong as it was before, yes, I _know_ that.” Tony interrupts through clenched teeth. Rhodey seems to have gotten the message that Tony is in no mood to discuss that, as he visibly backs away, falling silent. 

Cue Tony feeling like a jerk all over again. Did he seriously snap at his best friend for being rightfully concerned? This time his apology comes out more smoothly, perhaps even naturally. Murmuring a soft “sorry,” he slowly gets down from the table and sits on it rather than stands, heaving a small sigh as he glances over at the blue holographic screens from security cameras that he asked Friday to hack into. His efforts are not working at all so far and that is something that Tony is not used to. He can usually fix problems really quickly – hell, he managed to get out of a cave after being held captive for months with limited supplies and constant torture. _Why is this suddenly so difficult?_

He almost jumps as he feels Rhodey suddenly ruffle his hair, yet the affectionate action puts a smile on his face. Rhodey did that a lot when they were in college, often to try to get on Tony’s nerves but eventually they both found out that Tony didn’t mind it at all. “I bet that you’re in a crabby mood just ‘cause you didn’t have breakfast yet,” The other man says, referencing all of those times Tony was at everyone’s throats in college after going hours studying and not eating. 

_I’m pretty sure it’s the crippling amount of stress I’m constantly under and the fact that I have a hangover that makes me feel like I just got out of bed after a night with the Hulk. But yeah, sure. When was the last time I ate breakfast?_ He muses, but simply responds with, “Remember when all we had to eat in MIT were instant noodles? I never thought that I would be able to choke down another one of them without immediately heading to a trashcan.” 

“I was thinking something like pancakes.” 

“You know how to make them?” Tony asks in awe, before realizing who most likely taught his best friend. “Your mother is a legend. Is there anything that she hasn’t taught you?” 

“Dealing with egotistical rich kids with hidden self-esteem problems. I had to learn that all by myself,” Rhodey jokes and Tony snorts. “Get changed out of your suit, though. You’ll throw a fit if you get even a small speck of flour on there, and I’m not ready to deal with one of your tantrums so early in the morning.” 

_I’m still in my suit?_ Tony furrows his eyebrows and glances down, spotting the familiar black-and-white colors almost instantly and therefore noticing that he is indeed still in his suit from the night before. Along with the sight of the suit, strong memories of getting broken up with by Pepper and then leaving early only to have an anxiety attack start to quickly drift back to him. 

Luckily, Rhodey’s voice chase those thoughts away as he calls to Tony from the door to the workshop, “I’ll be waiting in the kitchen! If you’re late, I’ll eat them all by myself and trust me, that is a threat.”

* * *

By the time Tony gets changed into a simple yet classic Black Sabbath T-shirt and Iron Man-themed sweatpants and walks into the kitchen, Rhodey has already brought out most of the supplies they need, such as flour, milk, and eggs. 

“You’re seriously wearing your own merch?” Rhodey questions as Tony walks up to stand next to him, and Tony is almost offended that Rhodey would expect anything less from him. 

“And you wouldn’t? Oh, come on. I’ll buy you an Iron Man shirt,” Tony offers, “Remember the really cool ones we saw a few days ago? With those chemistry puns? You’ll love it. Anyways, Chef Gordan Ramsay, what do I do first?” 

“Wait, you really think I’m letting you do this by yourself? Hell no. I doubt you have any experience with cooking beyond your poor attempt at an omelette or whatever that was supposed to be. I’m not going to be putting out your fires.” 

Tony stubbornly folds his arms across his chest. “I’m a genius. How hard can it be?” 

“It’s not rocket science and that’s the issue, Tones,” Rhodey explains as he takes out a few measuring cups. “You’re going to overcomplicate it, man. Just follow my lead.” 

Even though Tony protests for the first few minutes, they end up making the batter together. Making the pancake batter isn’t a challenge and the only thing that made Tony whine is the amount of flour staining his black shirt. Rhodey simply laughs at the sight and Tony takes a small handful of flour, waiting for his friend to turn his back to him before he slaps the flour on his shirt, Rhodey’s small noise of surprise bringing him satisfaction. 

When Rhodey turns around with an accusing look on his face, Tony naturally feigns innocence. “Wow, I wonder who did that,” Tony whistles, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, “maybe Friday did it. I think I saw her do it. She told me to watch this and then she threw flour at you. Hey, I’ll help you sue for damages to your pride.” 

“Tony threw the flour at you,” Friday happily chips in as Tony murmurs under his breath, “Snitch.” 

“Oh really? Thank you, Friday,” Rhodey hums dangerously and Tony immediately begins to back away, taking a discarded whisk from the sink and extending it in front of him as threateningly as he could, some of the remaining batter from the whisk dripping onto the floor. 

“Careful, I have a weapon and I’m not afraid to use it. Stay back.” 

Rhodey has his own handful of flour now and for every step forward he takes, Tony takes a step back, waving the whisk around. Suddenly, Rhodey seems to notice something behind Tony and his eyebrows furrow, almost as if he is confused. Tony is tempted to turn around and check, but he refuses to be tricked. He knows all of his best friend’s tricks. 

“Oh, haha, I’m not falling for that. You’re going to have to think of something better,” Tony points out, “I know you, Rhodey, and that’s just playing dirty.” 

“Dum-E? What are you doing here, there’s no fire. Yet.” 

Tony hesitates for a moment, wondering if he should take the risk and look back or not before deciding that he should. There is no way that he is going to allow Dum-E to do anything to him. “Dum-E? Oh my God, Dum-E, you _better_ not be there with a fire extinguisher otherwise I’ll donate you to – AH!” Tony’s turns around, expecting to see his tragedy of a robot behind him, yet his voice cuts off in a screech as Rhodey grabs him by the collar of his shirt and tugs him forward, dumping the flour onto his hair. 

“Give up?” Rhodey challenges, keeping a tight hold on Tony’s shirt, amusement dancing in his dark brown eyes. 

“Never.” 

By the time the bag of flour is nearly empty, Tony is covered head-to-toe in flour and so is Rhodey. The floor is a complete mess, and the counters look like something out of a parent’s nightmare. Carelessly flicking off chunks of flower off his shoulder, Tony comments, “I think we should call it a draw, although I’ll admit that I was pretty close to winning.” 

“Shut up and get over here so we can make the pancakes already.” 

Now came the part of actually making them and Rhodey takes out only one frying pan, but they plan on making their own stacks for themselves. Rhodey goes first and Tony allows him to this time, watching the entire process of pouring some of the batter on the frying pan, waiting for a little while, and then flipping it over. 

Flipping a pancake every now and then? How hard can it be? Once it comes to be his turn, Tony waits for a while, tapping the spatula against his thigh impatiently. Finally, after waiting for a good five minutes or so, he slips the spatula underneath the pancake and frowns as he flips his pancake over; the side is nearly charred, therefore proving Rhodey’s point that his cooking skills are as good as his self-preservation skills, which are practically non-existent. 

Tony fully expects Rhodey to poke fun at him and begins to brace for it but instead, the man offers him a smile and offers, “Here, let me help you. I’ll tell you when to flip them, okay? That way you can make them yourself and hang them up on your wall of accomplishments.” 

Tony is a proud man who values his independence. He’s incredibly tempted to automatically reject Rhodey’s offer to help him but thinks it over and concludes that Rhodey will just be overseeing the process, not actually doing it for him. “A wall of accomplishments? That’s not a bad idea. And alright, just tell me the magic number.” 

Despite Tony playfully grumbling about Rhodey hovering over him like an overprotective mother, the two of them managed to pull off some nearly perfect pancakes, and Tony’s chest starts swelling with pride even though he can’t say that he 100% made them by himself. 

He spots Rhodey’s stack on a plate, which sits on the flour-stained counter, and the perfect circles seem to laugh at his multiple attempts at circles, which are a bit deformed in certain areas. “Mine came out better,” Tony automatically says. 

“That’s just jealousy talking and you know it. It’s just like your sub-par Iron Man suit versus my War Machine suit. Who has the bigger gun?” 

“I’m not going to answer that.” 

The two of them sit down on the table, across from each other, and Rhodey brings out some toppings such as strawberries, blueberries, syrup, and whipped cream that Tony didn’t even remember having in his refrigerator. Tony immediately reaches for the maple syrup as soon as it is placed on the table. 

Rhodey seems to have a knack for reading Tony’s mind since he then remarks, “You’re not seriously going to pour all of that syrup on them, are you?” 

Tony finds another smile crossing his face, and he promptly begins to pour it all over his pancakes. “Try me.” 

Rhodey arches an eyebrow and Tony has to hold back laughter as his friend’s eyes widen at the inhuman amount of syrup he pours over his pancakes. “Man, you’re _really_ drowning them. I think I might have to drive you to the hospital after you take a bite. Is it really worth it?” 

“Trust me and my judgement, Honey Bear, it’s fine.” 

“I’m gonna put that on your tombstone, you know that? I can see it now. ‘He said that everything was fine,’ it would say. ‘He was wrong.’” 

Tony finally ceases pouring and places the now half-empty bottle of syrup down on the table. Meanwhile Rhodey busies himself with his own toppings, not even touching the syrup that Tony used. 

Tony is a man full of impulsive decisions and regret settles in rather quickly. Tony gently pokes at his pancakes with the fork, frowning as he lifts up his fork and it almost sticks to his forearm. Perhaps he used a little too much syrup. He sneaks a glance at Rhodey’s plate, which is neatly balanced with pancakes topped with whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberries. He almost hates to admit it, but Rhodey certainly did a better job. Keyword: almost. For some odd reason, Tony doesn’t mind that much that someone is better than him at something, but he blames this feeling on the fact that he has known Rhodey for an incredibly long time. 

He leans forward a little and focuses on Rhodey, knowing that he will eventually notice Tony’s eyes on him and get the message. “Platypus…honey bear….” he whines when Rhodey doesn’t notice him as quickly as he hoped he would, and that thankfully gets his attention. Tony can see the gears working in Rhodey’s mind before realization flashes on his face. 

“Oh my God, you don’t have to do the puppy eyes. Just get your fork and scoot over here,” Rhodey rolls his eyes, “it’s not like we never shared in college.” 

“Can I have the strawberries, then?” Tony teases as he shifts his chair closer so he can now sit next to Rhodey, who nearly chokes on his pancakes, “I’m gonna give that a hardy, healthy no, Tones. I have to draw the line somewhere.” Tony pouts but doesn’t push it, instead taking a forkful of pieces of the pancake topped with whipped cream and shoveling it into his mouth. 

That is how the two of them go through the next few minutes of their makeshift breakfast. They exchange banter every now and then, Tony tries to steal a strawberry and is caught by Rhodey every single time, and somehow he ends up with whipped cream on his nose to match the flour in his beard and hair. 

Tony’s phone, which he tossed on the table before they started making breakfast, vibrates and he absentmindedly glances at it, only to do a double-take as his brain registers the name of the sender. _Natasha._

Without a second thought, he takes his phone and unlocks it, reading the very brief message she sent him: 

_We need to talk, Stark. Meet me in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn in the next ten minutes otherwise I’m leaving. Don’t keep me waiting._

“Nat just texted me, she wants to talk to me,” Tony says to Rhodey, who had been curiously looking at him ever since he got the text. “I have to go meet her somewhere in Brooklyn.” 

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Rhodey asks, and Tony realizes that he’s riding on the faith that Natasha hasn’t chosen a side yet and that she’s going to fill him in on what’s going on. The thought of Natasha actually deciding who to support sounds far-fetched. “Maybe I should go with you just in case. Or take Happy with you.” 

Tony thinks for a moment as he chews on a stolen strawberry before finally swallowing and shaking his head, “I’ll be fine. It isn’t like Natasha to automatically pick someone to support. Like I said before, this situation is just too complicated for her.” 

Rhodey looks unconvinced but thankfully doesn’t put up much of a fight. “Alright, whatever you say, man. Just let me know what you hear from her, I know she’s close friends with Cap.” 

He nods his affirmation and stands up to leave, knowing very well that he should clean himself up and change into something more professional considering the circumstances. However, Tony feels guilt claw at his chest as he realizes that he’s leaving Rhodey alone in the middle of his breakfast, and he hesitates for a moment despite being on a time crunch (as if he’s not going to be fashionably late anyway). “Hey, Sour Patch. Don’t think that you’re getting rid of me that quickly, this breakfast thing is gonna become our tradition now. Next time my pancakes will put yours to shame.” 

He didn’t phrase it like a question, but he stays behind and waits for a response. Relief pours into his chest, like the unreasonably large amount of syrup he dumped on his stack of pancakes, as the other man breaks into a grin that seems to light up the entire kitchen. “Yeah, of course. I’m planning on holding you up to that.” 

As Tony heads towards his bedroom, he realizes that for some reason, Rhodey’s agreement brought more relief to him than Natasha’s text message did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope ya liked it !! spoiler alert, but in the next chapter, tony meets two spiders, not just one!  
> comments and kudos help keep me going , so they're always appreciated !!!  
> my tumblr: [starkintrn.tumblr.com](https://starkintrn.tumblr.com/)


	6. The Itsy Bitsy Spiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha lets Tony in on some plans, and provides him with very vague answers, while a web-slinging teenager nearly knocks him off a building. It's safe to say that Tony's day isn't going as normally as he thought it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we finally meet natasha and peter! it seems like spiders are really fond of tony. this chapter took a little while to write 'cause i'm sick so idk when i'll update next, but i hope you enjoy this one!

“Y’know, when I thought you said meet you at Brighton Beach, I thought you meant an actual beach. I brought my floatie and everything.” 

“I know you have a phobia of water,” Natasha remarks, leading him through endless shelves of books, “and it’s safer inside. I can’t talk to you outside without having one thousand people surrounding us.” 

Tony’s shoulders brush against the spines of multiple foreign books, and he has to sometimes sidestep piles of books that are scattered on the floor. The space between the shelves is immensely narrow and Natasha took it upon herself to take lead, while Tony trails behind like her shadow. 

“I didn’t even know there were so many Russian bookstores in Brooklyn,” Tony comments as Natasha finally stops once they reach a secluded and quiet corner. She turns around to face him, her eyes studying his face. “You’ve been drinking again?” 

Tony arches his eyebrow at the sudden question but answers regardless, his voice slightly tight, “A little before I went on my way here. Not enough to mess up my brain. What does that have to do with anything, by the way? I thought we were here to talk about old man Steve.” 

Natasha seems to accept the answer before she eyes the rest of him, once again ignoring the main issue that Tony is hoping to address. “I know you’re ridiculously rich and all, but what’s with the get-up?” She asks again, gesturing towards Tony’s choice of clothing, which is a dark gray dress shirt with a black tie, and dress pants that promptly match. 

“Well, Cap went off the rails and I’m the only one part of the Avengers who is trying to deal with this mess in terms of the government,” Tony explains, giving her a withering look, “I’m just trying to look the part. Also, what’s wrong with dressing like this every now and then? I, for one, think I look great.” 

“I take it that you and Steve are not on good terms?” Natasha then states the obvious, seeming to ignore almost everything that Tony is saying, and doesn’t even wait for Tony to respond as she continues, “I spoke to him recently. Steve is trying to get Bucky out of here. He thinks that Bucky was framed, as you already know. He wants to help clear his name or find someone who can.” 

Tony’s jaw twitches with frustration at her words and he can’t help but snap, making sure to keep his voice down just in case, “I _offered_ to help him, and I doubt that Bucky’s been framed. I saw the security footage, it’s an almost picture-perfect comparison. Even if he is, what makes Steve think that running away from law enforcement is going to solve anything? He’s just making things worse for himself.” 

“He doesn’t want to give up his freedom or give up his friend. I doubt that running away is going to fix this, so I’m trying to get him to lean more towards your options as long as you promise to stay in line.” 

As they continue speaking, the shelves around them suddenly start rattling wildly and Tony grabs onto the nearest one, his mind immediately going to the worst: it’s another bomb, it’s the sound of rockets, it’s something incredibly dangerous that knows they’re here. However, Natasha is the one who stops him before he ends up calling his suit by grabbing the sleeve of his shirt, “Don’t forget that we’re under train tracks. It’s just from a train that’s passing by.” 

As soon as those words leave her mouth, Tony hears the train loudly pass by them, the floor rattling as the train speeds on the tracks. He doesn’t understand how people can live here with the constant noise, but he supposes that they’re used to it. He tries to focus on what Natasha told him before the train and manages to continue with her train of thought, “Alright, alright. So Cap wants to ignore the fact that there’s a very good chance that Bucky was the one to actually blow up the building. Great. And what do you mean by ‘stay in line’? I’m completely in line compared to Steve.” 

“You’re missing the point,” Natasha cuts him off, reaching up and flicking his forehead, emitting a sound of protest and annoyance from Tony, “The two of you need to agree on something or this will spiral completely out of control. I’ve convinced Steve to talk to you. Now all you need to do is agree to talk to him. When you both finish speaking, you need to let me know what you both agree or don’t agree on.” 

Tony pauses, thinking it through. He isn’t completely opposed to speaking to Steve since it’s necessary, but he certainly isn’t looking forward to it. He also wonders what role Natasha is hoping to play in this. “And if he doesn’t agree to what I tell him?” 

“Then we’re going to have one hell of an issue on our hands.” 

“Those are some high stakes,” Tony comments, “but I never shy away from a challenge. Fine, I’ll do it.” 

“Good.” Natasha nods approvingly, seeming to take his agreement as her cue to leave since she brushes past him and begins to walk in the direction of the exit. _Huh. Short conversation, but it’s always been like that with her._

“Wait, Nat.” Tony calls after her and she turns around, staring at him questioningly. Once he has her attention, he realizes that he isn’t certain how he should phrase this or if he should bother. Instinct takes over and Tony decides that he has to at least ask. “Whose side are you on?” Tony quickly asks before he can change his mind, already knowing that he isn’t going to get a straight answer. 

Natasha eyes him for a few moments, and simply shrugs her shoulders as she nonchalantly responds, “It’s a lot more complicated than choosing sides and going with that exact specific ideology, Tony. I think you know that, too.” 

As she leaves and disappears out of sight without giving him a chance to ask something else or respond, her words to him left hanging in the air, Tony leans against one of the bookshelves and rests the back of his head on the spines of the books. Now he has to deal with this new issue. How is he supposed to convince Steve to try to figure out another way to help Bucky? The two of them couldn’t even agree on anything when they were on the same side and he doubts that Steve will suddenly listen to him. Also, if Steve does by some miracle end up listening to him, what are they going to do about Bucky? As soon as Secretary Ross finds out that Tony figured something out with Steve and has Bucky, Tony can kiss any ideas he has that could fix this situation goodbye. 

Tony pulls out his phone, remembering how Rhodey asked him to call him once he was done talking with Natasha before he left. Ever since Tony spent three months imprisoned and tortured in Afghanistan, Rhodey almost always checked up on Tony after a potentially dangerous situation and even though Tony found it really unnecessary sometimes, he always kept his promise to call him afterwards. Tony can see the logic behind it and Rhodey is his best friend, so he can’t say no to him for something like that. 

It only rings twice before Rhodey picks up, “Is everything alright?” Tony is almost surprised by the amount of pure concern in his tone of voice. _Did he really think something was going to happen?_

“Yeah, everything’s _great_. Nat wants me to talk to Steve about this and try to convince him to consider other options,” Tony tells him, knowing that Rhodey is rolling his eyes on the other line, “I’m going to try my best to convince him but something tells me that Capsicle is as frozen on this as he was in the 1900s.” 

“She wants you to speak to him in person?” 

“I haven’t figured that part out yet,” Tony admits, “I doubt it’ll be over the phone. Do you think he even knows how to use phones yet? Did someone teach him how to text like the cool kids do? Do you think he knows what things like ‘LOL’ and ‘OMG’ mean?” 

“Please never say those acronyms again,” Rhodey pleads, and Tony can almost feel him wincing in embarrassment on the other end, “and are you going to head back now?” 

“No, I wanna go find a donut shop and get a few donuts, and then eat them on an even more giant donut.” 

“One of those days, huh? When do you plan on talking to him?” 

“I don’t know. Tonight? I can’t stomach the thought of talking to him anytime earlier. I definitely need a drink or two before I do, though.” _A drink or two? More like an entire bottle. Maybe even two. The less chance I have of remembering the conversation, the better._

“Hey, hey, you’ve been drinking a lot. I think you should cut back a little today. Go get your donuts, and make sure to get some for me, too. You know the flavor I like.” 

“Jelly?” Tony guesses wrong on purpose, relishing in the offended gasp on the other end. 

“Fuck no. I’m no heathen.” 

Tony smiles and ends the call as they both say their temporary goodbyes, stuffing his phone back into his pocket. He walks down the stairs of the small bookstore, heading straight towards the door. He has his hand on the door handle and almost makes it outside until he’s stopped by a voice. 

“Hey, hey, you there. Are you actually Iron Man?” The man over the counter asks as soon as he has Tony’s attention, his eyes blown wide and his voice heavily accented. 

“Sometimes,” Tony casually answers, his once tense shoulders relaxing, “It’s my lunch break right now.” 

Tony can tell that the man wants to talk to him more but he promptly ignores him and leaves the small bookstore, the sound of the next train passing by drowning out any other sounds.

* * *

“Hey, what do you think about these donuts?” Tony asks his suit, which remains on standby on the roof of the building, as he pulls out a chocolate glazed donut. Tony sits on the large sign, the small cardboard box of donuts he bought sitting on his lap. “I think that they’re a solid six out of ten. Presentation could be a little better but not bad. I’ve seen worse.” 

Naturally, his suit doesn’t verbally respond. Tony huffs, turning around to face his suit, “One day I’m going to make it so you can talk to me outside of the suit and my tower, Friday. Put that on my list of things to do, alright? If you can hear me.” He takes a bite of his donut and leans back, pulling his sunglasses over his eyes even though it’s a cloudy day and the sun is nowhere in sight. His mouth creases in distaste and he takes one unimpressed look at the donut he’s holding, “They may look like a six out of ten but they taste like a two.” 

Suddenly, before Tony is able to make any other insulting comments towards the donut, a red-and-blue figure in his peripheral vision swings right past him, almost knocking straight into him. He curses under his breath as his hand grabs tight hold of the sign in order to prevent himself from falling over and thankfully that method works. However, the figure does end up knocking over Tony’s box of donuts and he frowns as he looks down, seeing the box and remaining donuts splattered rather pathetically on the ground. Well, there goes his lunch and Rhodey’s special Boston Crème donuts. Not that it’s that much of a loss considering the fact that they don’t taste very good. He looks back up, seeing the figure stumble onto a nearby roof of a tall building and it seems like he intends on staying there for a while. 

At first, Tony considers simply buying another box and then leaving, but curiosity always gets the best of him in the end. He knows who the figure is and in fact, he’s known for a while already, but he has yet to meet him officially. _Might as well, right?_ Tony gets in his suit and flies over to the exact building, landing near the ledge in order to let there be an ample amount of space in between them so the other hero wouldn’t get scared off. 

“Peter Parker,” Tony casually greets as he steps out of his suit and onto the roof of the building, the masked figure in front of him flinching at the sound of his actual name rather than his superhero identity. “How’s it going?” 

“Holy shit! Y-you’re Tony Stark,” Peter stammers out, his tone of voice completely awestruck. Tony is already used to it, though. It’s safe to say that he gets that a lot. “And you know my name! Wait, how? I thought I was good at this secret identity thing. I-I mean, I’m not Peter Parker, I’m Spider-Man. I have…no idea who Peter Parker is.” 

“You think I live in this city, see some web-slinging spiderling stopping automobiles with their bare hands, and decide that it’s just another Monday?” Tony scoffs. “I’ve had my eye on you for a while. And you also knocked over my perfectly good box of donuts while you were doing your little acrobatic stunts over there.” He then glances at Peter’s outfit, which is basically a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants clumsily put together. “You’re seriously getting into dangerous fights in your…pajamas?” 

“Hey! These are not pajamas,” Peter defends, the wonder in his voice not yet fully gone, “I designed this suit myself. And the web-shooters, too.” He lifts his wrists up for Tony to see, and Tony admits that the design isn’t half-bad. The kid definitely has some engineering skills. “Oh! I’m also sorry about your donuts. I didn’t mean to knock them over, I swear! I’m just still trying to get the hang out swinging around in places I’m not really familiar with. I can buy you some more in return if you want!” 

“I’m a billionaire, I don’t need money from some teen,” Tony assures him, still focused on his suit design. Sure, it does a perfect job of covering up his identity, but it will do nothing to protect him from things like bullets, knives, or anything else that can cause severe harm. Meanwhile, Peter is rambling about his swinging techniques and Tony is barely paying attention. 

_If Bucky does something like blow up another building, then there’s a good chance that this kid will try to stop it or help hurt people. If he does, there’s no way that he’s going to be safe in this suit. It looks like a Project Runway episode gone wrong,_ he considers, tapping his foot against the roof of the building in thought. “Alright,” he finally decides, Peter’s head snapping up at the sound of his voice again with so much force that Tony is surprised his neck didn’t snap, “I’m going to drop your new suit off once I’m finished with it. Or maybe I’ll have Happy deliver it to you. You know it’s him when you see him, he doesn’t always live up to his name. If he says some rude comment towards you, then you’ll especially know it’s him.” 

“You’ll _what_? Wait, a new suit?” Peter suddenly gasps and Tony is worried that he might just pass out on the spot due to lack of oxygen. “I mean, I’m perfectly fine with this suit, you don’t have to make me a new one. I know that it’s probably a lot of work and you’re really busy, so I don’t want you to use up your time doing something for me. I appreciate it a lot, though, and it sounds really cool!” 

Man, this kid is like a human radio. He just keeps going on and on and on. Tony lifts up his hand as a sign for Peter to quiet down, “Me first, kid. I wasn’t done talking yet. And yeah, Underoos, you heard me. A new suit and it’s free of charge. You won’t find a deal like that in your local market.” Tony isn’t completely certain why he offered yet: perhaps it’s because he desperately needs a distraction or maybe it’s because he actually doesn’t want the kid to get severely injured with everything that’s going on lately. Whatever the reason is, Peter is getting a new suit. 

Finally, Peter’s awkwardness is replaced with excitement. “Mr. Stark, that’s so awesome! It doesn’t have to be anything special – I mean, of course anything you’d make is special but you get what I mean. Does this mean that I get to go on missions with the rest of the Avengers? Is this my recruitment?” 

_Mr. Stark? Geez, that makes me feel like some pretentious middle-aged man. Or at least more of a pretentious middle-aged man than I already am,_ Tony thinks, before remembering quite bitterly, _it also reminds me of Howard._

“Just call me Tony, kid,” he tells him before immediately shaking his head, “and no, this is not a recruitment. I just can’t have some fourteen-year-old swinging around in his pajamas and stopping crime. You need something more high-tech otherwise your ass is going to get kicked into next week. Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not fit for The Avengers yet. We’re also not accepting applications no matter how impressive your resume is.” 

“Okay, Mr. Stark! Oh – I mean, Mr. Tony. Mr. Tony Stark?” Peter chirps despite the rejection, bringing his hand to his chin as he attempts to figure out the proper way to address Tony even though Tony had just told him to call him by his first name. “Uh, wait, are you going to deliver it to my apartment? ‘Cause my Aunt May lives there with me and she doesn’t know that I’m Spider-Man. I’d, uh, like to keep it that way, please.” His hands now toy with the hem of his makeshift suit and Tony realizes that he’s genuinely afraid of having his aunt put two-and-two together. 

_No one else knows?_ Tony doesn’t personally know the stress of keeping an identity secret since he admitted that he’s Iron Man the second the press conference was established. However, he does know that keeping such a major secret, especially from family, is no small feat. This kid is trying to carry the entire world on his shoulders and that is definitely a feeling that Tony is familiar with. 

“Yeah, of course. Happy will park in front of the building, you’ll know it’s one of my cars when you see it. Your aunt won’t know a thing.” 

“Awesome! This is crazy! Absolutely crazy! Thank you, Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaims, a little too loudly, his earlier excitement returning. 

“Don’t thank me yet, kid, I haven’t done anything yet.” Tony has no jurisdiction over this kid, since he doubts that he’ll be seeing him again after he grants him his new suit, so he doesn’t advise Peter to stay out of the mess that Bucky created as much as he wants to. However, before he steps back into his suit, he does say to Peter, “Just stick close to the ground, alright? Go do your homework or something, or whatever kids do. This city needs a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man more than it needs anyone else – other than me, of course. You got that?” 

Before Tony could hear what Peter says to him next, the faceplate over his suit closes and he shoots back up into the air. He has no more time to stick around and chat with some high school kid who can stick to things when there is something much bigger going on. 

On his way back to the tower, Tony finds himself looking forward more to designing Peter’s new suit rather than dealing with a stubborn man determined to save his guilty best friend against all odds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed this !!! i decided not to have tony recruit peter simply because there's different circumstances here than in the movie, but they'll have a similar relationship here to what they have in the movies!  
> my tumblr: [starkintrn.tumblr.com](https://starkintrn.tumblr.com/)


	7. Late Night Heartfelt Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naturally, nothing goes Tony's way, even if he 100% believes that it's the right way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i refuse to believe that a) steve rogers doesn't sign his text messages like he signs letters and b) that the arc reactor never forces tony to go through a lot of pain, especially when it's damaged.

“Friday, how many web shooter combinations count as ‘too much’?” 

“So far you have 405-“ 

“Then we’re not even close! Kid needs at least five hundred, I know how indecisive teenagers are,” Tony chides as he waves away some holographic blueprinted designs, making room for new ones. He already implemented a parachute and a heating system in the prototype of the suit, all of these ideas the results of mistakes Tony made in the past. He supposes that he can amend them by adding them to Peter’s suit, so the kid wouldn’t have to deal with falling or freezing to his death. 

“Do you wish for me to continue to alert you of sighting of Steve Rogers, James Buchanan Barnes, and Sam Wilson?” 

“Yes, of course. I doubt that they’ll be showing their faces again but they might and I’ll be there when they will,” he responds, yet there is a tiny hint of doubt in the back of his mind. They’re doing who-knows-what and he’s here distracting himself by building an extremely intuitive suit for some random spider kid he’s been keeping an eye on for a while? “Anyways, Steve and I are planning to talk sometime tonight. Or at least that’s what Natasha said. We still haven’t really figured things out.” 

“Do you think he’ll listen to you?” 

“Well, he has to. Otherwise he’s going to be in one hell of a situation.” Tony stands up, stretching his arms over his head, grimacing as his chest seems to dislike the action. He rubs a knuckle over his chest in an attempt to ease the pain, leaning up against the table. His attention is diverted, however, by his phone vibrating and he peeks at the screen, fully prepared to ignore it if it’s someone he is in zero mood to talk to. Part of him hopes it’s Natasha calling him to tell him that Steve changed his mind and is willing to go down the right path, which is with Tony’s ideas. 

“Speak of the devil,” Tony remarks in surprise as he reads the name of the sender, even if the number isn’t saved in his phone. He honestly thought it would be in person, but apparently the two of them can’t handle that for now. Tony supposes that it’s better this way since in case anything happens, the worst they can do to each other is ignore each other. 

**Steve:** Natasha said I should talk to you. – Sincerely, Steve Rogers. 

**Tony:** Oh my God you seriously sign your text messages? Like letters? 

**Tony:** You don’t have to do that, you Star-Spangled definition of politeness 

**Tony:** Also why does it take you ten years to type one message? 

**Steve:** I just think it’s nice. – Sincerely, Steve Rogers. 

**Tony:** Just call me, I don’t think I’ll be able to handle this 

**Tony:** There’s a lot to see in this world and I’m not wasting it waiting for you to type your messages 

The text messages cease and Tony pauses for a minute, waiting to hear his ringtone. For a few minutes, he doesn’t, and he begins to think that Steve bailed out of the conversation. However, his phone starts ringing, proving his thoughts wrong, and Tony glances towards the ceiling, “Friday, trace the call if you can. Give me an exact location.” He brushes aside Peter’s suit designs for the time being in order to give Friday space to project the location. 

“Listen, Rogers, we’ve got a problem on our hands,” Tony picks up and begins talking without even giving Steve time to greet him, “you’re now a wanted fugitive. The police are hot on your tracks, and I’m here doing my best to make sure that they don’t take you in. Lucky for you, you can still fix this.” 

“It’s not that easy,” Steve says in exasperation on the other line, and Tony notices that his voice is laced with exhaustion. He sounds like he hasn’t slept in days, though Tony doubts that he sounds any better. “I’m not handing over my best friend, especially when this isn’t his fault and he’s innocent.” 

Tony sits down and kicks back on his chair, already feeling frustration prickle at his skin. “We can’t prove that he’s innocent yet, that’s the issue. We have video evidence of him doing it and the government has video evidence. According to them, he’s guilty, and if you keep running, you’re only digging the hole deeper for you and him. You’re an Avenger, Steve, people are going to start believing in us less the more shit like this we pull. We’re going to cause a lot of damage.” 

“This goes far beyond that. I don’t care about my reputation anymore, Tony. Bucky is my friend and I’m not betraying him like that. I just lost him, I can’t lose him again.” 

“What a noble answer,” Tony states, voice dripping venomously with sarcasm, “but you’re not thinking of the bigger picture here. You’re making it look like you’re willing to sacrifice the lives of many other innocent people for just one person.” 

“An innocent person.” 

Tony feel like hitting his head against the wall repeatedly. This conversation is going absolutely nowhere, just like he feared it would. “And if you’re wrong? If he’s not innocent? Would it have all been worth it?” 

There’s a pause on the other line and Tony knows that Steve is well-aware of the possibility of being wrong. “I have to try. This goes beyond Bucky, there’s other people who are suffering like him. He’s the only one who knows where they are.” 

It’s Tony’s turn to pause in silence. _Other people like him?_ “Wait, hold on, what do you mean by that?” 

“I’m sorry, Tony, but you can’t change my mind on this. It’s better if you don’t get involved.”

“No. No, don’t you dare hang u-“ His threat is cut off as soon as Steve hangs up, and Tony lets out a loud string of curses as he attempts to call him back. Naturally, it goes to voicemail, and Tony feels pure anger bubble in his chest. He repeats this process a few more times to try to annoy him into picking up but it seems like his phone has either turned off or run out of battery, and Tony is betting that it’s the former. 

“Friday, did you trace the call?” He desperately asks, watching hopelessly as a red dot appears on the screen for a second or two before it disappears and an error messages takes its place. _No, no, no._

“It seems like the call was made on a burner phone that cannot be traced accurately.” 

_He has my number memorized?_

“He’s always telling me to follow orders! He’s always telling me that I can’t do things because we have responsibilities and orders! And yet here he is, on the run and not listening to any sort of reason! And now there’s something else going on that he won’t tell me?” Tony loudly rants, kicking away spare materials as he starts to make his way out of the lab. “What the hell does he mean by ‘other people like him’? People who’ve lost their memories? All Steve told me is that his best friend lost his memories for a little bit but they’re back now, so I don’t know _what_ he’s insinuating. And better if _I_ don’t get involved? Who the hell does he think-“ 

“Where are you going?” Friday interrupts and Tony’s hand rests on the handle to the door of his lab, tightly gripping it until his knuckles turn white. 

“To deal with this the proper way.”

* * *

“Why do you do this to yourself?” 

At first, Tony thinks that it’s his own voice. He groans and shifts in place, sliding down further on his back, wincing as his Arc Reactor presses down in response, putting an increasing amount of pressure on his lungs. “I have isshhuuuues,” Tony slurs, clumsily sitting up so he wouldn’t have to deal with the suffocating feeling anymore. His hand paws around on the couch for his bottle, which is shockingly not where he left it. 

“We all know that,” the voice solemnly replies, and Tony lifts his head up and is met with the concerned face of Rhodey, who is leaning up against the back of the couch with an empty bottle in his hand. He shakes it, drawing Tony’s attention to it, before letting it drop back onto the floor and shaking his head, “C’mon, Tony, you can’t keep going like this. I told you not to drink today, or at least cut back. But what do you do? You decide to drink and not just a glass, but an entire freakin’ bottle! I didn’t even know they came in this size!” 

“You’re not the boss of me,” Tony petulantly whines, and folds his arms across his chest, gritting his teeth. “You try talkin’ to old man blondie and his crew of fools. I told you this morning, the man is frozen on this. He won’t listen to any sort of reason.” 

“And you’re fixing this issue by drinking?” Rhodey arches an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by Tony’s excuses. 

“God damn it, Rhodey, I don’t know what to do! Now there’s this whole new thing Cap is talking about that he refuses to tell me about!” Tony snaps, his hands clenching into fists. How _dare_ Rhodey assume that he is doing nothing about this? However, before Tony can voice his thoughts, his anger seems to dissipate just as quickly it appeared and he simply looks down at his hands, rough and calloused from years of working in the lab. “I should be doing more, though. I’m not doing enough and that’s why they’re slipping through my fingers. Like a couple of sardines that you can get at those really weird supermarkets.” 

“Hey, don’t you dare go down that path, it’s not your fault-“ 

“How is Pepper?” Tony instead interrupts. 

Rhodey blinks in surprise, most likely at the sudden change in subject, before relenting and answering, “She seems to be dealing with your break-up just fine. She’s just working to get a few charity Galas set up for the victims of the bombing. She’s also pretty worried about you, Tones.” 

Tony’s brain takes a while to process Rhodey’s words before he asks, “She told you? About the break-up? When she dumped me on the balcony? Where the man was passed out?” 

“She told me on the way back,” his best friend says as he sits down on the top of the couch, “and she told me how well you handled it. Sex jokes are really part of your defense mechanism, huh?” 

Words start to bubble out of Tony’s throat, defensive and raw, but they are drowned out by Tony’s ridiculously loud ringtone. Tony slowly turns around to face his phone, which is on the floor, the screen cracked. Tony doesn’t bother getting up to fetch it and shakes his head as Rhodey makes his way towards it, “Ignore it, platypus. I’m not in the mood for more phone calls.” 

There’s a brief pause before Rhodey says, “It’s Secretary Ross, who is gloriously named ‘Secretary Little Dick’ in your contacts.” Tony can hear Rhodey stifling a laugh and he almost does the same, though the atmosphere quickly fades as soon as his brain registers the actual name of the person who’s calling. 

“Shit! Fuck, he’s in on this, too, now? He’s a headache in human form. Tell him ‘m dead. No, no, no, actually…tell him…my twin sister is here…he can talk to her. Her name is Toni.” 

“If you really did have a twin sister, why would she have the same name as you?” Rhodey plays along as he makes no move to bring the phone over to Tony, who continues giggling softly. 

“Howard couldn’t think up of any other names. Too busy fawning over his son named Steve Rogers.” 

Finally, Tony’s phone is silent, and Rhodey seems to take that as his cue. “Alright, let’s go. There’s no point in having you laugh your ass off here. You need to get to sleep before you break something and hurt yourself.” 

“Okaaaaaaaay.” Tony drawls, surprising even himself with his quick agreement. 

Pushing himself up from his strange position on the couch, Tony stumbles to his feet, although he quickly trips and falls, his hands outstretching and slamming on the floor. Rhodey is by his side in a matter of mere seconds, his arms wrapping around his torso as he pulls Tony up from the floor, “You alright? I didn’t think you were _this_ drunk.” 

Even though this isn’t really a hug, Tony finds himself immediately feeling better with the warmth around him and he instinctively sinks deeper in. How long has it been since he had last experienced a hug? How long has it been since he last experienced some sort of positive touch? “Y-yeah, never better.” At first, he makes no move to break away from their contact. However, he feels his legs threatening to give way again and the last thing he wants is to collapse again and take his friend down with him, so he gestures in the direction of his bedroom with his head, “Bedroom’s over there in case you forgot.” 

Rhodey helps Tony walk over to his bedroom, both of their arms slung over each other’s shoulders for support, and once they get there, Tony immediately sits down on the edge of the bed, albeit very clumsily. He doesn’t feel giggly or elated, his mind just feels hazy and off-putting, yet it isn’t whirling with thoughts like it usually is so Tony relishes in the lack of over-thinking. 

As soon as Tony adjusts his position to more of a sitting upright one, the pain in his chest gradually returns and his jaw twitches as he notices it more and more. It’s gone from a dull ache to an actual sharp pain, the pressure the Arc Reactor places on his chest suddenly one hundred times more palpable. However, Tony does not even mention it and tries his best to refrain from making it noticeable, although that doesn’t seem to work considering Rhodey’s next words to him,

“Hey, I can tell it’s bothering you. No need to bother hiding it.” 

Tony doesn’t respond and gingerly pokes the metal through his shirt, wincing as the skin around it protests and the added pressure does little to help his already existing chest pain. He clenches his jaw, the pad of his finger gliding over the scratches, small cracks, and ridges of the Reactor, the surface no longer smooth. How long has it been since he had last changed it? 

“I’m going to change it for you, alright? The light is a little dull and I can see a few small cracks in the casing,” Rhodey points out before continuing in bewilderment, “Wait, how the hell is it even almost cracked like that? I thought the new element you discovered is practically the strongest thing out there.” 

Tony snorts, his sentences a little more coherent yet still very slurred. “America’s biggest fanatic. Thought I could catch shields with my chest. Badassium meets its match.” He doesn’t think that Steve meant to hit his chest with it, since Steve is also aware of the fact that Tony’s Arc Reactor is his main power source and even though he went off the rails, Tony has to admit that despite their phone conversation, Steve is naturally a good man and would never do something like that. 

“Didn’t your father make his shield?” Rhodey reminds him as he takes an Arc Reactor from one of Tony’s drawers, and Tony wonders who placed it there because he sure as hell didn’t. 

“Ironic, isn’t iiiiiiiiiit?” Tony says in a sing-song voice, although it’s slightly strained. 

“You sure you’re alright?” he asks again for what seems to be the thousandth time tonight, though he seems to be noticing that what Tony is experiencing is more than minor discomfort. 

_It’s pressing down on my lungs and it’s putting pressure on my ribs and the skin around it is rough and it just hurts so fucking bad,_ Tony wants to say but instead simply presses his lips into a thin line and nods his head. 

“Okay,” Rhodey sits down on the edge of the bed beside Tony, the new Arc Reactor held carefully in his hands. “Your shirt’s covering it up, man.” 

_I can’t. It looks bad._

Tony doesn’t realize that he said those words aloud until Rhodey responds firmly, “You know that I won’t judge you for that, I told you this when you first showed me and convinced me it wasn’t a bomb, remember? And it’s sure as hell not the first time I helped replace it for you. I’ll do it quickly, alright?” 

“Not you ‘m doubting.” 

The two of them share a look before Tony lifts his shirt up and over his head, almost getting stuck in the process, and tossing it to the other side of the bed, which remains unmade and empty. Tony eyes the empty space for a moment, taking in the sight of the bunched-up sheets, the creases in the mattress, and the dents remaining on the pillow, before he blurts out, almost stupidly, “Pep used to sleep there.” 

“I know-“

Tony cuts him off, his eyebrows furrowing as he attempts to gather his hazy thoughts, “Before we broke up…we used to sleep really close. Close together, I mean. I liked hearing her heartbeat. I can…I can barely hear mine. Or sometimes it beats too fast, y’know? Tachycardia, bradycardia, I’ve had all of those. Pep’s heartbeat was always normal.” He glances at the now empty space, and his frown deepens as he realizes that he’s going to be sleeping alone for a while. In fact, it might be more than a while. Before Rhodey can formulate a response to his drunken ramblings, Tony offhandedly gestures towards his chest, “You can do your thing now.” 

Tony feels Rhodey carefully take it out of his chest and immediately, Tony feels terrible, like he’s just come down with the flu and all of the symptoms are hitting him at once. The process always has to be quick considering the circumstances and although Tony’s managed to go longer without his Arc Reactor in the past – when he got paralyzed by Obadiah, for example – it still isn’t comfortable to have a large gaping hole in his chest, where all of his organs and other fun things can be seen. 

However, despite his discomfort, he offers Rhodey zero direction and no snappy words for him to hurry up. 

It’s replaced in record time, and with a satisfying clicking noise to signify the action being complete. The constant low hum returns and once again, Tony is a human nightlight. The dim room, once only lit with a small orange glow from a lamp, is now also colored a faint shade of blue. Tony takes a few deep breathes; it still hurts, it’ll always hurt, but thankfully now it hurts a little less. “Thank you, Rhodey,” he says quietly as he leans his head down to rest on Rhodey’s shoulder and murmurs, “Good friend. Best friend. Don’t deserve you.” 

Rhodey playfully pokes him in the cheek. “Hey, quit talking like that. Now get some rest, okay? If I find you in the lab, so help me, I will get the War Machine suit and drag your sorry ass back here.” Tony lifts his head up to look at him and notices the reassuring yet tired smile that Rhodey gives him. In fact, even though Tony is drunk off his ass, he notices the worry lines on the man’s face. 

“You’re tired,” Tony points out, disregarding everything Rhodey said to him before. _Has he been staying up, too?_

“We all are,” Rhodey shrugs his shoulders, “and I’ve had to deal with holding the military off ‘cause they want to take this situation into their own hands, as if it’ll be any safer there. I’ve just been staying up because they’ve been ready to roll up in tanks and full gear.” 

“Wh-? But I…Stop reading my mind, Honey Bear.” Tony grumbles. 

“You actually said that aloud, but sure, you can think that I’m reading your mind,” Rhodey offers Tony a shit-eating grin, and Tony finds himself instantly mirroring the smile, “and make sure to tell your friends, too. Maybe this will get me rich. Richer than you, even. Watch out, Tones, I’m coming for your reputation and money.” 

Their playful banter continues on for a little while longer before Rhodey mentions that they both should be getting to sleep, and Tony realizes with a sinking feeling that he’s going to be left alone here. Even though Pepper slept on the opposite side of the bed, she was always _here with him_ and Tony didn’t have to deal with the prospect of sleeping alone in the dark. Back in Afghanistan, Tony always had Yinsen, and he had grown so used to having someone near him that the prospect of being alone in the dark again is, quite frankly, _terrifying._

“’Night, Tones.” Rhodey says to him as he prepares to go out the door. 

_Don’t go, please._

Unfortunately, that’s one of the only thoughts that remains unspoken.

* * *

As Tony lies there, his eyes staring up blankly at the ceiling above of him, he feels exhaustion start to seep deep into his bones, and his eyelids are heavy. It’s only then that he notices how _tired_ he is, and not just physically. His body seems to be determined to get him at least a few hours of sleep before he keels over. However, anxiety keeps him awake. It’s quiet. It’s way too quiet. He can’t hear anyone breathing or anyone’s heartbeat. It’s just Tony. The hum of the Arc Reactor does nothing to bring comfort to him. 

Tony spares a glance to the empty side of his bed and heaves a sigh. He then runs his fingers over the casing of the Arc Reactor, which is incredibly smooth compared to his other one, and he shudders as he doesn’t feel his heartbeat. 

“Friday?” he says in a voice barely above a whisper. 

“Yes?” Her voice is music to his ears and Tony is so grateful for the fact that he took the time to build an A.I. after Jarvis. 

“Call Nat, I need to talk to her about something. And also, how many possible upgrades do you think I can make to the War Machine suit?” He waits for a moment before quickly adding, “Also, remind me to give the kid an A.I. in his suit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> get it? heartfelt? cause rhodey held tony's heart?  
> anyways, hope yall liked this chapter, things are gonna start picking up in the next two-three!  
> comments and kudos are always appreciated !!!! :D  
> yell at me on my tumblr!: [starkintrn.tumblr.com](https://starkintrn.tumblr.com/)


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